Third Sister
by PrettyPrettyShinyShiny
Summary: What if Petunia were a witch? With another little sister? But she's got more secrets than she knows of her precious baby sister. Who is Violet really? Fem!Harry
1. Chapter 1

**Disc.** \- I don't own Harry Potter!

 **This Story...** \- Time travel, Fem!Harry, gratuitous use of memory modification and criminal actions and behavior. Yes.

 **XXXXXXXX**

Petunia's curly blonde locks bounced in the air, having just been cut to chin level as she turned from the sight of the hairdresser fawning over Lily's long red locks. This brought her youngest sister into her view and she smiled, bad mood lightening. Violet smiled in return, green eyes slightly unfocused with bad vision. Her black hair was cut even shorter, a wild mess on her head and curling around her ears in an attempt to tame it. The haircut left the lightning bolt scar on her forehead completely visible, making her stand out even more than she already did amongst her sisters and parents. With Harry Evans and his curly red hair and sparkling pale blue eyes, tall and broad-shouldered with a warm hearty grin to go with the freckles spotting his nose and their small dainty-sized mother with loose pale gold waves and intense green eyes paired with fair complexion.

Petunia had her mother's pale blond hair and her father's pale blue eyes, skin fair with a few freckles dotting her cheeks. Lily inherited their mother's deep jade green eyes and their father's almost auburn crimson hair. But Violet had inky black locks, absolutely no color or shades of anything but light devouring darkness and her green eyes were an almost outlandishly bright green apple color. She tanned better than their father did and with the same freckles across her nose and smile though and it most certainly was their mother who gave birth to her. Their grandmother insisted that she looked just like her own sister (who'd unfortunately died as a child) and that she got her looks from there.

Regardless of where she got her looks from, she still stood out amongst them. Neither girls were far from each other in age- Violet and Lily were technically twins, though Lily popped out almost a full three months earlier than she was supposed to and Violet stayed in for an extra two weeks so they weren't typically called twins. Petunia was about eight months older than Lily but almost an entire year away from her preferred sister. Violet's hand slipped into her own and they left the barber to climb into their cramped little car with their father, who glanced at them and burst into deep chest rumbling laughter.

"Well,", he breathed once he got himself under control. "At least you don't look like a sheep anymore.", he grinned at the youngest Evans sister. Violet smiled but Petunia pursed her lips. She'd thought her littlest sister was quite cute with the wild locks curling about. "Too pretty to be confused for a boy at least,", he went on teasingly, glancing out as his wife and middle daughter finally came out. Lily's hair had only been a trim but it was the most expensive of the three and Petunia felt the sharp sting of envy and anger, two familiar emotions when it came to dealing with _perfect_ little _Lily_.

Violet's hand squeezed her own and she stubbornly turned to ignore her red-haired sister for her far cuter and far more agreeable sister. Their parents weren't aware of the depth of dislike she had for her redheaded sister; but they knew she didn't particularly get along with _golden_ Lily. Then they would chide her because Lily was her little sister and that jealousy was a terrible trait to have. Petunia learned to keep her remarks to herself, but that didn't mean she was going to get friendly with the prat. Then they were driving home, Lily dragging her fingers through her hair like a preening bird and Petunia hated it. She hated her sister's hair.

One night, Petunia had chopped it all off, yes she did. Imagine her fury when by morning it had all grown back. Violet on the other hand, she had loved her little sister's wild curls in velvety black. They were soft and bouncy and ever so much fun to play with, and made ribbons look especially pretty. Now it was cut too short for their precious few ribbons. Petunia frowned slightly, playing with the ends of her own pale blonde hair by her jaw. Hopefully their parents would let her hair grow out properly. Until then, Violet did like to use the ribbons as necklaces, fitted against the throat. When they returned to their small run-down home, there was a woman awaiting them. She wore green tartan in a long dress like attire, her sleek dark hair in a tight bun under a large hat and strict, stern features. She stood ramrod straight and that set their parents in a wary mood. Their father got out first, Marigold pulling her three daughters close and staying on the other side of the car.

"Can I help you, ma'am?", Harry Evans asked slowly, cautious.

"My name is Minerva McGonagall, and I come from a very... _Special_ school.", at this their parents and Lily perked up. Of course. _Lily._

"School?", Marigold piped up, her painful grip on her daughters loosening.

"Yes. Perhaps we can discuss this inside?"

"Oh, of course.", he nodded, stroking his mustache and trim beard.

"Should we send the girls away?", their mother asked and Petunia sneered, turning her head away as she crossed her arms. By 'girls', they meant Violet and her. Only when they said 'ladies' did they mean all three of their daughters, as though Lily were somehow _too_ _good_ to be called just a _girl_. The only thing Lily was good at was smiling and flipping that stupid red hair of hers! Petunia was excellent in academics, above her peers- Violet was more domestic. She cleaned, everything from their wash (which typically had to be done by hand so as to preserve pounds), to the house, to tending to small flower bed. And her cooking was wonderful! Gifted, she was. But _no_ , _Lily_ was the favorite!

"Nonsense, this concerns them after all.", and Petunia stared at the woman for a moment, then glanced at her surprised parents. That stung her in a deep way.

As though Lily were _better_ than them, more _deserving_. She hid another scowl before her little sister slipped her hand into hers. Petunia glanced at her as they followed their parents into the house. She could tell Violet was tense; well, she had wanted to tend to their secret little garden when they got back. Hidden out by the old abandoned factories at the outskirts of town, they often went there to play in the huge buildings while Lily hogged the swings with that horrid _boy_ she'd befriended. The one who sneered at her and Violet while making dewy eyes at their sister, _perfect_ Lily.

Petunia still paid very careful attention to the woman, stunned when she turned into a tabby cat right before their eyes! Then turned the table into a giant moving chess piece! It was the most amazing thing she'd ever seen! Three letters, in a thick sort of parchment, were handed to them while she continued to talk about things like tuition and classes with their parents. The ink was a lovely green and there was a strange crest with four animals on it.

"The lion, the eagle, the badger and the snake.", Violet whispered to her. "Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin.", she recited before breaking the seal to take out the two pieces of parchment. Petunia rubbed the thick strange texture between her fingers, scanning through the flowing script with a squint. Violet and her had a bit of bad vision like their father, but couldn't afford glasses.

"Witches, Vi."

"That's right, Pet.", green eyes sparkled back, mirroring ice-blue. Pet was exclusively used by her youngest sister. Lily, horrid little bugger that she was, had given her the horrible moniker of _Tunie._ Rhyming with pruny and _loony_ , the other children often mocked her after they'd heard Lily call her that. Petunia just knew Lily did it on purpose. Then the woman and their parents arranged a date to pick up their school things after working out funds and whatnot and then the girls were being told to go out and play because they had a lot to talk about.

The girls made their way to the park a bit faster today, though Petunia scowled as soon as she noted Lily's stray there, with his cast-off trench coat and ripped shoes. He perked up when he saw Lily but gave Violet and her a grouchy look. All four were together for a few moments, Lily excitedly telling him (despite that she wasn't supposed to) all about the visit from the woman. Apparently, they'd talked about being magical before, but when she mentioned her and Violet the boy jolted in shock before turning narrowed black eyes at them. She glared right back at the pillock.

" _You? You're_ a witch too?"

"Got a problem with that, _boy?"_ , the two scowled at one another. "Tch. Let's go, Violet. We know when we're not wanted."

"Wait.", and both other girls froze. Violet did not often speak around others, and had never spoke in front of Lily's friend. Rarely did she even speak to her family, mostly saving her words for her oldest sister or the kind woman down the street who taught her and Petunia ballet and formal dancing, as she'd used to be a dance instructor. She would teach Lily too, but the airhead always ran off to the park to find that boy. "Severus,", Severus? Was that the boy's name? How outlandish. "I think you would fit nicely into Ravenclaw.", and then she turned, ending the small conversation with a seemingly out of nowhere sentence. With that she begun to lead Petunia away and in the direction of the abandoned factories.

"Vi, what was that all about?"

"I just think he'd make a good Ravenclaw. A premonition, if you will.", Pet gave her an odd look but said no more about it. If Violet looked tense, then Pet kindly overlooked it. Sometimes her youngest sister would say strange things like that with that strange glint in her eyes. Perhaps it was part of being a witch. But then they were tending to the garden they'd set up, hidden and coveted and they giggled and played amongst the rubble of the old factories. Their garden was a great variety of things, seeds taken from other yards or nicked from a store here or there- Violet had quite the talent at nicking things without notice. Anything from pumpkins to exotic flowers or flowering shrubs- they even had a small pink flowering tree. By their garden was the most magnificent weeping willow that was absolutely perfect to practice their dancing at, especially when they were able to sneak away a portable radio. Usually setting it to classical music.

"We can get magical plants, too. I'm sure there are lots of them.", Violet's pretty green eyes sparkled happily and Petunia beamed at her little sister brightly.

"Oh, that'd be perfect! Say, do you think this Hogwarts,", her nose scrunched up. Petunia just couldn't get over what an unsightly name that was, "School has dance classes as well?"

"I haven't the foggiest. If not, maybe we can petition for one?"

"Excellent idea, sister-mine."

"Why thank you, sister-mine.", and they dissolved into giggles before starting up their dances once more. The kindly woman down the street was something of a nanny when their parents both worked the same shift, and had been helping the girls learn to dance since they were four or five. She'd even said that they were developing the dancer's grace in their movements. Petunia loved being told such things. Despite being more into her schoolwork and her mind, she _did_ like to imagine lacy things and pearls and dainty things like that. She imagined ballet slippers with ribbons that climbed up their shins as well, but such things weren't for them; not while they were in poverty. Petunia was determined however, that one day she and Violet would make lovely ladies of great wealth and admiration. She was sure of it.

But soon the sky was beginning to get a bit dark and they grudgingly left their hidden garden to travel back to the park, where Lily and the boy were laying together, staring up at the sky and talking together. She sneered at the sight. Her redheaded sister bid her farewell when she saw them and they headed home.

xXx

Petunia glanced nonchalantly at the basket her sister held in the bookstore. She'd grabbed a great many books, but the only ones that could be seen were the books from the curriculum. When Petunia would stroke the spine of one, Vi would grab that one too. She shared a smile with her youngest sister.

They left the bookstore with no trouble and Pet wondered that there weren't any security measures. Or perhaps Vi just knew how to get past them. Her sister knew a great many things, Pet wouldn't doubt it. One day she would get her to share those particular secrets but for now she was content. When they then went to get trunks, the blue-eyed girl watched her tiny sister activate some sort of charm on a few of the trunks, shrinking them down when no one was looking. They were nice, lovely looking trunks and the little tags said that they had numerous charms on them. They were, of course, far above anything their family would ever be able to afford.

Quite frankly, Petunia nor Lily quite understood the money these magic folk used, and neither did their parents, but Vi took to it easily. When they were fitted for robes and curiously twisting this way and that in them, Petunia watched her sister smuggle more robes around their sizes whilst the owner of the shop and their parents fawned over Lily and her pretty smile with her long crimson hair.

But then they were entering a pet shop, their guide explaining to them that having a familiar is the norm, and that three different animals were allowed in Hogwarts. Though added with a twinkle in her eyes that sometimes people did bring other pets kept hidden. Lily positively adored a small little tawny owl with wide yellow green eyes, round and rather cute, and just barely five inches. Petunia rolled her eyes, wandering closer to the larger owls. A finicky looking black owl stole her attention. It was huge and commanding and she got closer to the cage, staring into sharp yellow eyes. The feathers seemed to form horns but this didn't look like any horned owl she'd seen.

"An eagle owl. This particular old boy is a bit hostile though, don't know why the owner has him on the floor.", and the shop worker moved to take the owl away.

"No! Wait- I like him.", she stopped him quickly, still staring into the owl's eyes. It gave as much of an intense stare back before fluffing itself slightly with a very quiet hoo. The young man blinked.

"Well. Never seen 'im do that a'fore. Guess he likes you too.", he shrugged. "If you need books on his ilk, it'll be on Eurasian eagle owls, got it?"

"Yes, thank you.", she nodded, grabbing the large cage and with the help of the man setting it atop the second hand trunk they'd bought. Petunia didn't mind. Vi would give her a new one soon enough. The cage was barely enough to hold him and she resolved to look for an even bigger one so he'd be comfortable while he was caged.

She caught sight of her sister in the feline section, crouched before a cage on the bottom. Petunia blinked, wandering over to her sister.

"What kitty cat are you staring into the soul of?"

"I want two.", she said in prim response. "They're kittens, half-kneazle and Maine coon mix. Their mother is beautiful, she looks like an even bigger Norwegian forest cat."

"Can you have two?"

"Probably not, but I'm getting them both. That pure white one there? He'll be Horologium. And the tiny one with the red and black and white will be Cleothera. Rolo and Cleo for short.", her sister told her distantly. "Cleo can be out and about but I suppose Rolo will have to hide in one of the special trunk compartments until we get to the school.", she reached a hand in and gently plucked the white one from the cage. Petunia glanced around quickly. No one was paying attention to them. It was almost like nobody could see them. The kitten, while young, was old enough to be separated from his mother but just small enough to fit in the large pocket of the sweater Vi wore under their new (secondhand) robes. That done, she opened the cage properly and picked up the second kitten that caught her eye, pausing only to pet the mother cat, who purred in satisfaction with intelligent gleaming violet eyes. "Such a pretty girl you are, and with such pretty kittens as well.", Vi murmured gently before shutting the cage again. When they regrouped with their family, one of the workers blinked at the kitten Vi held.

"Are you sure you want that kitten? She's the runt of the litter."

"So am I.", she said with a bland stare. Her father barked out a laugh heartily. The man raised his hands before helping the two collect supplies for their new familiars. If Vi happened to be grabbing more things than necessary or the huge cage she somehow managed to squirrel away in one of the stolen trunks without anyone else noticing, who was Petunia to point it out? She simply smiled at her sister for her consideration of her new owl.

"What do you think I should name him?", she asked Violet. Lily spoke up.

"He's such a big bird...Why not Shadow?"

"What? That's not nearly lordly enough for him! He's positively majestic, there's no way a common pet name will suffice!", she scowled.

"Now now, ladies.", their father chided gently.

"Sorry da'.", they chorused before he once more tuned into the conversation he and his wife were having with their guide.

"Magnus."

"Hm?", Petunia turned to her sister who was being positively adorable as she nuzzled noses with her new kitten. Bright green eyes looked to her.

"I think Magnus suits him well."

"What did you name your cat, Lettie?", and Petunia scowled at Lily for the weird nickname she gave their younger sister.

"Cleothera."

"That's pretty. My little owl here, his name is Hazel for his eyes.", she smiled as she pet the tiny thing sitting on her shoulder.

"Right, well, I think Magnus is a fine name for him. What do you think, Magnus?", the black owl peeked at her from where his head was tucked into his wing, napping. He gave a strange owl-huff before settling again. Petunia grinned in victory. "Magnus it is then."

"Alright girls, time to fetch your potions things!", and into an apothecary they went. Petunia stared around in wonder, roaming with her sister near the back while their plump guide led her sister and parents to the Potions Starter kits.

"Poisons and venom? Vi, do you think Potions will be hard?"

"Not at all, sister-mine. We'll just have to learn how to do it.", she said before grabbing vials and ingredients, climbing up on a small ladder that extended then all the way to the top and moved about on its own as she grabbed more and more. "Pet, catch these please.", and the glass vials came falling down at her. She quickly grabbed them, slipping them into her youngest sister's basket where they slipped out of sight and once more, all that could be seen were her textbooks. "See anything you like?", and Petunia scrutinized the labels before her.

"Saliva of Satyr?"

"Very useful for fertility, love and lust potions, but has a fair few other uses too.", Vi nodded, grabbing the heart shaped vial.

"Crushed bone of Giant, what about that?"

"Do they have that? Oh, we'll certainly be getting that as well. Good eye, Pet."

"Thank you, sister. Oh, how's about Mermaid tears? They look like pearls!"

"They have healing properties if they're from the Mediterranean seas.", she handed her sister the little bottle and she quickly read the small tag. "And just our luck, it is! I believe we've stumbled upon the rarer stock of ingredients. But we'd best move quickly, I think they're almost done."

Pet wasn't sure how many Vi had taken, more than thirty surely but how could more hurt? "Basilisk venom, Centaur stool, sliced liver of kelpie, eye of lionsdragon," Petunia read off as she swept them into her sister's basket. She grinned brightly at her sister. "We'll have so much fun, Vi!"

"Indeed we will, Pet.", and after a few more stolen vials, they trotted off dutifully to their family, Petunia smiling brightly and telling them that she thinks she'll like potions. Their guide smiled warmly, their parents proudly. She ignored Lily's happy smile. Nevertheless, they then went to get their cauldrons and Pet kept watch as Vi took more of them as well, especially the golden one she'd made eyes at. Perhaps Pet shouldn't encourage it but if it helped them in the long run, she couldn't see why they shouldn't take what they wanted. And it's not like anyone paid attention when Vi did it, though she suspected Vi was using some sort of magic to make everyone but her ignore the actions.

After that, they were moving to collect things for Herbology and Vi and Pet ran into that store, completely enthused. Pet heard their parents chuckle along with the woman whose odd name she couldn't for the life of her remember.

"Oh, Vi, look at these!", she showed her sister huge, wonderful flowers, bigger than they were. Vi swiped seeds, of everything Petunia showed her. Eventually, they snuck into a slightly more restricted area of the shop.

"Devil's Snare, Whomping Willow, Mandrakes,", Vi whispered as more seeds were added to their already huge collection.

"Bloody Belladonna, Fanged Geranium, Alihosty, Venomous Tentacula,", Petunia smiled as she helped.

"Oh, Alraune!", and Vi scooped a great many seeds up. The small Alraune that sat on the display watched her curiously. "If you plant an Alraune seed with a flower, it will become an Alraune. They're amazing bits of magic.", she offered her slim fingers to the one sitting before them. The small creature brushed even smaller hands against her. "Also quite pretty.", she smiled. "We'll have the most well-protected hidden garden."

"And the most beautiful.", Pet smiled back as more seeds were grabbed, put in small bags and once more dropped into the endless pit her sister's basket seemed to be.

"You know, some Alraune can grow to human sizes or larger."

"Really? How fascinating. Are they intelligent?"

"Most can't speak human language but they can get their points across fairly well most of the time.", she assured. "Care to grab a few more books? The bookstore didn't have this many Herbology books."

"Why I thought you'd never ask.", Petunia grinned wickedly.

By the time they moved back to their parents- distracted so easily by this magical world- they were just about to go and were only awaiting their oldest and youngest daughters.

"Now where do you two always run off to?", their father smiled playfully.

"Well we need to see everything, da'! Everything is so fantastical here after all.", Petunia smiled her mother's smile.

"Ah, young minds full of good curiosity. Might make full fledged Ravenclaws from you two. Though I suspect Miss Lily here might fit in more with the lions.", and Lily beamed. "Well, we'd best be off then, just one more thing to get.", she smiled kindly. _"Wands."_

The wand shop they went to looked dark and dusty but the woman (who'd Petunia finally learned was named Ellemae Elm, who taught some obscure subject and headed the Gobstones Club) assured them it was the best wand shop around.

"Now remember girls, no using your wands before school starts,", and Vi and Pet shared a glance. "Now where is that old-"

"I prefer wizened, my dear Ellemae.", they all jumped as an old man with wispy white hair and especially wide silvery eyes appeared. "A springy ten inches, unicorn hair, especially good with charms."

"Yes, Ollivander. Meet Garrick Ollivander here, the owner of this wonderful shop. These are the Evans."

"Evans, you say? Three muggleborn daughters in the same year? How peculiar. Well, no matter, no matter; let the eldest go first, shall we?", and Petunia stepped forward, only slightly cautious. "Ah, yes...", and he snapped his fingers. Petunia jumped when a measuring tape began to move about her and she was positioned this way and that.

"Er- Mr. Ollivander-", but then with another snap of his fingers it clattered to the floor.

"Let's try these shall we? Dragon heartstring, twelve inches, ash, loyal, good for transfiguration.", she held it in her grasp not a moment before it was snatched away. "Definitely not right. Here, redwood wand with unicorn hair, rather energetic and especially useful for Arithmancy.", a vase broke nearby.

"Er- sorry."

"Nonsense my dear! How are we to know which wand would choose you if we didn't try?", he smiled in delight. "Here, try this- lovely rosewood with Veela hair core, eleven and a half inches, and quite elegant.", he handed a delicately carved wand, the handle with lovely flowery looking blooms, to her. "Positively excellent for music related magic."

And Petunia felt a deep warmth travel up her arm and straight to her heart. She breathed in slowly as her hair moved slightly and pretty pink and blue sparks emanated.

"Oh yes, I'd say that is the one. The second daughter, if you please."

"Will mine feel like Tunie's did?", Lily asked excitedly.

"It's different for every wand, Ms. Evans.", he smiled before she was being measured. Pet was still mesmerized by her new wand as she stood next to her youngest sister.

"It looks lovely, Pet.", she whispered as Lily started trying wands.

"Ah, ten and three-fourths inches, willow, with kneazle whisker core, quite willowy.", and Lily bounced to their parents, showing them the thin looking wand. "And the last daughter.", and Vi stepped closer. "Oh my, what a curious scar.", he eyed her a moment as measurements were taken. The first two wands didn't respond at all, the third, fourth and fifth caused fires, and sixth and eighth made things explode and the seventh and ninth crackled angrily. The wandmaker laughed. "I haven't had this much fun in ages! Come, let's try a few more!"

It ended with an eleven inch wand, phoenix feather core of holly, and Ollivander said it was nice and supple. She was told it was an unusual core and wood combination, but it seemed she wasn't surprised.

After that, they were done shopping and were allowed to go home. Once there, the girls asked to go play and their parents obliged, worn out by the events of the day. Pet helped Vi stash all of their new things in one of the fancy new trunks before it shrunk down so they could begin a bit early. Then they were at the park and Lily was immediately showing Severus her new wand and telling him all about her day, pulling her small owl from where it had sat in one of her pockets. Pet's own Magnus had been set loose and even now she saw him hiding in the trees nearby and watching over her. Both of Vi's cats were with her, one lounging on her shoulders and the other in the large pocket of her sweater.

"Have _you_ gone to Diagon yet?", Pet asked. This was the only time, she told herself, that she would willingly start a conversation with the boy. He immediately took a defensive stance, staring at her shrewdly. She knew, well, _everyone_ knew Severus Snape's only friend was Lily. And everyone knew his parents didn't much pay attention to him, too busy arguing. In fact, a small part of Pet felt sorry for him- he often looked unwashed and his mismatched clothes were so very peculiar it almost looked like he did it on purpose. _Almost_ felt sorry. Not quite. She sniffed. "Fine then. See if I try to talk to you again.", and she turned, taking her sister's hand to lead her away.

"I haven't.", and she paused, looking back at him.

"Well. I suppose you haven't gotten any supplies then?"

"...My mother will be giving me her old things.", he mumbled after Lily gave him an encouraging smile. She'd always wanted her sisters and him to get along.

"He is around your size, Pet, in height. Perhaps a new robe would make him a bit more likeable?", Vi whispered to her. Pet doubted that the boy had ever heard her sister speak excluding the last time they'd been together.

"But the dimensions are all wrong for that,", she eyed the boy carefully.

"Nothing a few charms can't fix. Besides, if you do that, he'll be indebted to you."

"And what would he have to offer?", she scoffed as her redheaded sister and the boy watched them whisper.

"You never know, he might prove more useful when magic is about." and Pet stared at her sister quietly.

"Well then, boy-"

"His name is Severus,", Lily piped in. At Petunia's dark scowl, she quickly added, "Severus Snape."

"Snape, then. Vi here can fix up one of my new robes to fit you. Can't be wearing your _mother's_ robes, you're a boy.", gleaming black eyes, wary, a little offended but with a cautious bubble of hope looked at the two. "Come with us, then, Violet can figure out how she'll need to change it."

"Can I come? Where do you two always go anyhow?"

Pet scowled. They wouldn't bring the two to their garden, but one of the other abandoned buildings, far enough away from it should be fine.

"Just follow us.", she snapped. This act of kindness, she thought to herself, better not go unpaid. But she trusted Vi.

Walking for almost twenty minutes with Lily chattering on behind them wore Pet's patience out but she held Violet's hand and dutifully carried on. Lily gasped when she realized where they were heading.

"These buildings are dangerous!", Pet flapped a hand at her dismissively.

"We've been playing about them for years, it's perfectly safe. Snape, go up there with Violet.", she commanded next and the boy hesitantly followed her youngest sister up after giving Lily a last glance.

As soon as Violet and Snape were in the small office room, Petunia turned to her least favorite sister.

"So what do you do for fun in this old building?"

"We practice our dancing.", she replied curtly.

"Oh...Does Mrs. Wivern still teach you?"

"Yes."

"...Tunie, I know we don't get along like you and Lettie do, and I know you don't like Sev much but...Thank you for doing this for him.", Petunia turned from where she was reading an old, almost faded out warning on a rusty, huge machine. Lily's heartfelt eyes made her want to recoil. Lily always wore her heart on her sleeve- a mushy, sappy, air-headed girl. Violet, on the other hand, didn't need to constantly express her emotions in terribly put together words. Her emotions were _felt_. She glanced up at the room, wondering what was taking so long. When the door finally opened, she got a surprise- Snape wasn't wearing his usual trench coat, though he looked extremely uncomfortable without it. Behind him Violet came, the trench coat neatly folded over her arm. When they reached them, Violet immediately took to her sister's side.

"With the trench coat and one of the other robes, I can make him two.", she whispered. Petunia eyed the boy as he pulled on long sleeves of a sweater too much too large for him nervously.

"Did you tell him that?"

"I did. I don't want Lily to be suspicious that we might have extra robes."

"And what of the trench coat?", she sneered at the ratty old thing.

"I'm sure I'll find use for it. Pet- I think I'll lend him Horologium. He's horribly awkward."

"Indebted, again?"

"Yes."

"You do put a lot of faith into him.", she murmured suspiciously.

"Does he have anywhere to go but up?", bright green eyes gleamed predatorily and Petunia grinned, then frowned.

"But aren't we being a bit too nice?", she asked.

"I thought most strived to be nice. We are being very nice to a poor boy that's worse off than even us."

"I suppose. We better get something back out of all of this."

"Loyalty is a useful trait. You've seen how he is about Lily. Imagine that magnified, just for some cloth and a cat for companionship. It's certainly no skin off our bones.", Petunia looked at her youngest sister thoughtfully.

"...Alright.", she turned to her sister and her friend, who were quietly chatting. "Snape! Violet has two kittens from the shop. She wants to give the second to you."

Black eyes widened, as did Lily's before she grinned brightly, turning to her younger sister. "Really, Lettie?"

"I don't think they'll let me bring two.", she said quietly. "If, he doesn't mind cats?"

"Oh, I- I can't bring a cat home.", he said uneasily. Once more, Petunia and Violet spoke in hushed tones before turning to him again.

"I'll keep him while we're not at school."

"Oh...I would- I would like that.", he stuttered. Violet nodded, dipping her hand into her pocket to pull out the long-furred white cat.

"His name is Horologium.", she held him out.

"You know, Lettie, this is the most I've heard you speak to someone outside of the family and Mrs. Wivern.", Lily beamed proudly. Pet glared at her hotly as Snape cautiously took the cat from the girl. The cat immediately began sniffing him and he looked slightly worried.

"He's familiarizing himself with your scent.", Violet told him and he nodded, slowly beginning to pet the cat.

"You two can go back to your swings now.", Petunia sniffed. "We've got to practice.", before turning and setting up the small radio they always brought out with them. She watched Violet begin to stretch slightly. Stretching too much, Mrs. Wivern told them, destabilized the muscles. But just a bit prevented cramps and pulled muscles.

"Practice? Practice what?", apparently, giving him things made him a bit more sociable. Petunia sneered darkly.

"Dancing.", with that, the radio came to life. "Now if you'll excuse us, we prefer to dance in solitude."

xXx

"No no, that's dicing.", Vi corrected her. Pet frowned.

"Maybe I won't be so good at Potions."

"Nonsense, you just need to practice a bit, as with everything.", she soothed. Pet steeled her resolve. They had one more week before they would leave for Hogwarts and it'd been getting a bit difficult to go anywhere without Lily or Snape asking about it or what they were doing. But now they were squirreled away by their garden, most of their magical seeds now planted and carefully tended to. Violet told her not to worry about the time they'll be gone, as most magical plants are more durable. And that she could cast a few spells to make sure their garden stayed well and alive in their absence.

Oh yes, they'd been practicing magic. Violet had warned her of some sort of- 'trace' that wands had, but had dismantled them. She assured her that no one would notice and that they could practice freely. And of course, Petunia wanted a leg up on her peers. The bigger the advantage she had, the better.

Really, one of the only concerns she had about schooling is if she and Violet were to be separated. Or even worse, separated from Violet and lumped in with Lily. She shuddered at the thought.

At the moment, the two were in a factory by their garden, cauldrons out burning as Violet taught her how to properly prepare and create a potion, adding in tidbits about the ingredients. Violet had read all through the nights for the past few days, only catching a few small naps here and there in their garden, curled up with her cats. Petunia was getting a little worried but was confident that she knew what she was doing.

Three days before they were due to leave, Petunia heard Lily's insufferably bright voice by their garden. She tensed up before carefully setting a charm on her potion, then stuffing her wand under her shirt at her back. Then she was dashing off before they could get too close to her and Violet's special place. No way were they ruining their sanctuary.

"What are you doing here?", she demanded harshly, trying to even out her breaths. She was by the old building Violet and her took them to before, just as they were about to enter it.

"Tunie!", she greeted, surprised. Just behind her, Snape hesitated. "Where's Lettie?"

"Don't worry about that.", she stared at them unblinkingly. She knew Magnus had snuck closer as well, watching them just as intently. "Now what are you doing over here?"

"I was hoping we might be able to study the books together a bit.", Lily told her shyly. Pet stared at her. It only now sunk into her to read through the books they had? "Sev and I were reading them, and I thought...", and as Pet opened her mouth to spit out a harsh no, she heard Vi follow her, steps quiet but recognized.

"If we simply sit and read with them, they will do the same at Hogwarts.", she murmured. "If we do not, they will be less likely to come to us, and we less likely to get secrets from them."

"Secrets?"

"Knowledge is power, Pet. Seemingly simple favors, whilst they are none the wiser, could prove incredibly useful in the future.", and Pet frowned, pursing her lips as she stared at her hopeful sister and her timid follower. "The more they rely on us, the more power we hold over them.", this whisper made up her mind.

"Fine.", she held back a sneer, glancing at Vi and the two cats twining about her legs. Vi picked Rolo up, moving closer as Lily beamed. She handed the white cat to Snape, who held the cat with more confidence then he did the last time. The boy, she noticed, looked unnervingly clean today and his lank black hair wasn't in his face as it normally was but pushed behind his ears. His clothes even looked slightly less like they'd been picked out at random.

She frowned suspiciously. And Lily she noticed was wearing one of her prettier dresses, her long hair held with barrettes. "Where had you two been?", she asked slowly.

"Oh! I met Sev's mother today.", Lily told her bashfully, "She's a very beautiful lady, and she's a witch too!"

"His mum's a witch? What was she then, a muggleborn? Halfblood?", Pet asked with a frown. Why would anyone want to leave the magical world where things are so easy and incredible for a boring mundane one?

"What?", Lily seemed confused at the terminology but Snape tensed up.

"She's a Pureblood.", he said stiffly.

"So _you're_ a half-blood.", Pet nodded to herself. He cringed as though it were an insult. "What's that face for? From what I've gathered, people with at least one magical parent are better off than us muggleborns."

"What? What are you talking about Tunie?", Lily frowned.

"Vi, can you get the book?", and her sister nodded, trotting off with Cleo. "Can't be going in completely ignorant and all. We're related after all and I don't want you going around starting feuds.", Pet said casually.

"Tunie, what on earth are you talking about?"

" _History of Wizarding Discrimination; Blood vs. Blood Edition._ ", Vi returned quickly.

"'An in-depth comprehensive study on the history and current blood discrimination in wizardry all around the world.'", Pet read off neatly. "'A self-updating book written by eleven well-known authors and critics around the world who continue to study and document the blood for blood discrimination.'", her blue eyes looked up at them. "Can't go in blind when we don't know a thing about this wizarding world. Vi, get the cultural books too. And the other Hogwarts ones. I want to get this over with so these two don't act like complete dolts." and she nodded, giving over the book and again making her way back to their garden to collect more books. Petunia refused to have her redheaded sister do something stupid and reflect it onto her and Vi.

"What- where did you get this? It looks expensive!", Lily frowned in concern.

"Vi got it for free.", which technically, wasn't a lie. Snape looked uneasy but it seemed he wouldn't say anything. "Come on, let's find a place to sit."

Into the massive old factory they went, and soon after, Vi found them again in a patch of sunlight. "Alright, let's start with _'Hogwarts; A History'_.", which Pet had already read at least four times now.

xXx

After they were through the more important parts of the first book, Pet took a distinct pleasure in crushing Lily's excitement with a series of essays published in a book about the House discrimination in Hogwarts and the underlying Pureblood supremacy in some of the Houses. "-and right here, from a Halfblood Slytherin student with a Pureblood parent, it says they were treated far worse in Slytherin than the muggleborns, also given the slanderous title 'mudblood' because their parent was a bloodtraitor and cast out from the Pureblood family. The student said he was attacked by his own House and by the Gryffindor House and had to go to St. Mungos several times.", she glanced up at Snape. "Say, which House did you say you wanted to be in?"

Snape was very, very pale and Lily gently put her hand on his shoulder.

"Sev? Are you alright?"

"I think he would make a good Ravenclaw.", Vi spoke up again.

"That's the second time you said that.", Lily frowned.

"Because I think he'd make a good Ravenclaw.", she answered blandly.

"Ravenclaw, Ravenclaw...Ah, the Ravenclaw section! Let's see...", she squinted into the book. She really did need glasses. Maybe there was a spell or potion that could help. "Most of the discrimination within the House seem to be about grades. Certain grades are expected to be upheld and if a students lags or falls behind they'll be shunned or mocked by their fellow 'claws'. Other Houses tend to make fun of them for being 'dry brainy bookworms' but the Ravenclaws aren't often bothered by the other Houses. In fact...", she flicked through the pages. "Gryffindor, it seems, doesn't have a lot of interHouse issues but they're often the instigators of incidents and bullying as compared to the other Houses. The ones they target most are their 'enemy' House, the Slytherins. Oh, according to this one, the Slytherins tend to travel in groups so they won't be jumped in the halls by Gryffindors.", she frowned. "How barbaric!", she muttered. "Oh on a side note, while it's mostly Gryffindors who bully, Slytherins are more than happy to reciprocate and tend to target Hufflepuffs quite maliciously."

"The Ravenclaws generally keep a distance from the other Houses.", Vi pointed out.

"I would too, some of these essays are describing horrible things that these students do to one another."

"Like...Like what?"

"One boy had been castrated for...'Making eyes' at a girl the caster liked.", and Snape made a small noise, closing his thighs tightly. It almost made Pet smile, but mostly made her cringe in disgust. "Don't worry, that was one of the more extreme cases. Oh, here's one where a 'loose' girl had been hit by a curse that...", she stopped.

"That what?", Lily whispered.

"No, nothing, never mind." and she quickly turned a few pages. "Oh! This one had a girl who cursed another girl because she was gossiping about her behind her back or something. It...", she squinted for a moment. "What? That can't be-"

"Gave her a bird's beak and squawk. Well that sounds like advanced Transfiguration.", Vi offered.

"Creative.", Pet hummed. "Alright, enough from this, let's move onto the other books shall we?"

The rest of the day was spent enlightening the other two on the wizard world. Vi even lent a few of the books to Snape so he could study them a bit more before they decided it was getting a bit late. Petunia frowned at the sky as they left, beginning to head back to the park. Snape handed over Rolo there and quietly thanked them before heading home.

xXx

Vi hummed as she pet Cleo. The cat was growing quickly, Pet noticed. She was sure Rolo was as well, larger than the female cat. She glanced at her own companion- Magnus was watching the reclining cat idly before he began grooming his feathers. Pet grinned, rolling over and on top of her little sister who gave a small grunt at the sudden weight. "We're going tomorrow.", she whispered excitedly. Vi smiled back at her. "What House do you think we'll be in?"

"Ravenclaw or Slytherin perhaps.", her sister hummed.

"Not a lion or badger?", Pet teased.

"Brave we are, but not rash or traditionally heroic. We can be kind and we are loyal but we usually have ulterior motives and our loyalty is mostly to eachother."

"Excellent deductions, sister-mine."

"Thank you, sister-mine.", she giggled. "But just because we have a few traits that fall into one category doesn't mean that those aspects are the entirety who we are as people."

"Well said. Maybe we should write a few letters or start a petition while we're there.", Petunia mused.

"We'll be the most politically, socially and academically active students Hogwarts has ever seen."

"Revolutionaries!", Petunia joined her.

"We'll turn their governing body on its head and build up a new regime!", and they fell into laughter before cleaning up and heading back home, excitement and content ringing in their bones.

Mostly excitement though.

xXx

Well to be certain their excitement had partially morphed into anxiety the next day as they and their parents went through to Platform 9 and ¾. Lily immediately somehow spotted Snape and rushed them over so their parents could meet.

"Three muggleborn daughters?", Mrs. Snape exclaimed after a few pleasantries were said and it was explained that all three of their daughters were witches. "My, how...Rare.", she caught herself before saying something a little ruder. "Certainly I've heard of two siblings who were muggleborn but three? And in the same year to boot!"

"We're quite proud of our little ladies.", their father boasted, a warm smile and crinkled eyes sending waves of warmth through the two daughters who were paying attention.

"Ah, I've met Miss Lily, and I've heard of these two but this is my first time meeting them?", she turned her curious dark stare onto them and Petunia eyed her for a few moments. She could see some of the boy in his mother, but it was obvious that Snape clearly got his more prominent looks from his father. No, Eileen Snape was a rather pretty (if a bit fatigued looking) woman who was aging rather gracefully.

"Ah yes, our oldest girl, Petunia.", Harry grinned broadly, clapping a hand onto his blonde daughter's shoulder. "Sharp as anything, this one. Can't get anything passed her."

"And the baby, Violet.", Marigold smiled, hugging her youngest's shoulders.

"Me mum says she looked just like my late auntie.", Harry chimed in as he saw Eileen look between the small girl and her parents.

"Ah, I...See. I know in my family some children would turn out looking exactly like great aunts or cousins at times.", Eileen added politely before glancing over to where her son and the redheaded girl were, Lily dragging him to stare at the scarlet red steam engine. "Quite an unsightly color, isn't it?"

"It's certainly garish.", Marigold agreed.

"You know, the train is red for Gryffindor House- bold and bright. And the ink on the letters the children receive is green for Slytherin- subtle and subdued. Compared to this anyways.", she waved vaguely at the train.

"Really? Were you a student there?"

"Indeed I was- a Slytherin and Head of the Gobstones Club in my day.", she said proudly. "Hogwarts is the biggest school in all of England- the absolute best."

"I'm glad to hear of it. Make sure our girls get a good education."

"Oh, of course. Many students grow to become important members of magical society. All of our Ministers have been students there."

"How marvelous!"

"Mum, dad, we want to find a compartment before the good ones are gone!", Petunia squirmed, looking up at their parents. "Not that it isn't good meeting you, Mrs. Snape.", she turned a charming smile to the older woman who gave a small chuckle.

"Excited, hm? Only to be expected."

"Alright, alright. Lily! C'mon, teary goodbyes!"

Their farewell comprised of group hugs (as in, more than once did one of their parents grab the three of them and then the other parent would wrap around them), tears and promises to write while Mrs. Snape said her own goodbyes to her son. Then Pet and Vi politely said goodbye to Mrs. Snape before quickly trotting off with their trunks (already charmed light) and their respective pets with them though Vi left Rolo with Snape.

Finding an empty compartment was a bit harder than Petunia had originally thought but they did find one after a bit of searching. She just hoped her airhead sister and her pet Snape didn't come snooping after them. They might be on 'friendly' terms for the moment but that didn't mean she enjoyed their presence. No, the first person to disturb them was a round faced girl who politely knocked, peering at them with dark brown eyes.

"Excuse me, but you haven't happened to see a toad around anywhere? You see, Frank here,", she gestured behind her to a boy with dark brown hair and caramel colored eyes, "Has lost his."

Pet eyed her sister- who'd jolted in surprise though for what, Pet didn't know.

"I'm sorry, but we've seen no toads around here. I daresay Cleo there would have chased it off anyhow.", Pet spoke up.

"I see...Thanks anyways. Oh! I'm Alice Meadowes by the way and this is Frank Longbottom."

"Petunia Evans,", Pet greeted, "And my little sister Violet."

"Nice to meet you, Alice, Frank. I do hope you find your toad."

"Thanks. I swear that dratted thing always does this...", the boy sighed. After that, the two were left in peace for maybe half an hour into their train ride. Then Lily (who Pet noticed was uncharacteristically furious and red in the face because of it) found their compartment and slammed the sliding door over so she could stomp in, Snape slinking along behind her and holding Rolo sulkily.

"I hate James Potter!", she burst as Snape quietly slid the door closed. Lily threw herself in the seat opposite her sisters.

"Who?"

"He's another First Year. Wants to be a Gryffindor.", Snape intercepted before Lily could open her trap again.

"He called Severus Snivellus!"

And if Petunia snorted a little in laughter, well it was only to be expected.

"I hate him, I hate him, I hate him! He's mean and rude and belligerent-", she ranted, "And then he tried to tell me to stay away from Sev because he told him his mum was in Slytherin and that he might be a Slytherin too!"

"Not even in Hogwarts or Sorted and there's already House discrimination.", Pet gave a low whistle. "Well this looks promising. What did you say his name was?"

"James Potter. And he had a little posse with him too- Peter, Sirius and another boy."

"Remus.", Severus supplied.

"Right, that."

"Wait, wait, hang on. Did you say serious?"

"No, S-i-r-i-u-s. A star name, tradition for the Blacks, so he's probably a Black.", Vi corrected.

"Weird names. Sirius and Remus?"

"Wizarding folk.", Vi hummed. Pet shrugged. "James Potter, Sirius Black. Did you catch the other two?"

"Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin.", Snape offered in immediate reply, petting the purring cat in his lap.

"What an unfortunate name- Remus Lupin."

"What do you mean?"

"Remus and Romulus, according to legend, were the founders of Rome who fought to death for control over it and were raised by wolves. Lupin, lupus, lupine. Wolf."

"Maybe his parents just really like wolves."

Vi pulled out one of her books from the travel bag she kept on her, "It says in the Most Famous English Wizarding Families that the Lupins are known for fighting for peaceful Werewolf rights and catching and turning in violent and aggressive werewolves."

"Werewolves are real?"

"What? Of course they are you dolt, didn't you read any of your text books? If Goblins and unicorns and vampires exist, why wouldn't werewolves?"

"Well I know I read something about animagus, so I thought maybe tales of werewolves were just about them. If there are werewolves, are there other were-creatures you think?", Lily asked.

"A few, though not as common or widespread and hated as werewolves. Which is strange considering wolves are such social creatures."

"Are werewolves really as rabid and awful as in the stories?"

"The Ministry would have you believe so, but most werewolves behave as any normal wolf when they're transformed. Unless they use Wolfsbane, which is a potion that allows a werewolf to retain their human mind when they transform which is only once a month. Otherwise they're fairly similar to any other witch or wizard, just a bit more resilient."

"I'm glad that you're becoming so much more social, Lettie.", Lily spoke up suddenly, smiling now. Pet glared at her. Of course the chit would pay attention to that and not how utterly genius she is, knowing all that she does so easily.

"Well either way, I don't think I'd much like to encounter a werewolf when they're transformed.", Pet sniffed.

"Few would.", Vi snorted, shutting her book to slip back into her bag. "Wolves are incredibly dangerous and werewolves are a much larger, much stronger variation. Though those considered 'pack' are allowed to get close during those times. As I said- social animals."

"So...That Potter boy wanted to be a Gryffindor?", Pet asked, turning her focus on her sister and the boy.

"He was absolutely certain he would be.", Lily scowled and the expression was so strange on the redhead that Pet almost sniggered. "His friends seemed to be hoping for that House to."

"Don't let them taint your entire view of that House,", Vi piped in. "Broad generalizations like that are what create discrimination and all discrimination does is create a wall between.", and Pet nodded along. Lily huffed, nodding.

"I suppose it'd be silly to think that all Gryffindors are like them."

"And they might not be Gryffindors at all.", Pet pointed out, crossing her legs.

They rode in silence for she didn't know how long until a homely looking young woman came by with snacks.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?", she smiled. It was Vi who bought things, having the best understanding of the strange wizarding money. If she had more than she should have, the other two didn't notice, too wrapped up in the strange new candies. Lily's small shriek when her chocolate frog almost got away startled Cleo, Rolo and made Magnus fluff up in agitation, her own small owl jumping and letting out a small noise. She offered a sheepish grin, even more embarrassed when a Prefect came in to see what was wrong. The Hufflepuff girl was thankfully very sympathetic, telling Lily that when she had her first chocolate frog she reacted much the same before leaving them in peace.

They ate until their stomachs ached from all of the sugar and not once did Lily think to ask about the sheer amount of sweets Vi was able to get, though Snape occasionally sent her a cautious look, nervous.

Pet wondered if he would scrape up the courage to ask about it or confront her. Petunia grinned, pleased. On their way and already they had a follower that knew better than to ask questions.

 **XXXXXXXX**

Hey there!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disc.** \- I STILL DO NOT OWN Harry Potter! What, really? Yes really!

 **This Story...** \- Hey, it's been so long! I'm so sorry about the time I've spent away from my fanfictions. Also- if anyone thinks I'm bashing the Marauders, I want to say that most of what I'm writing is how Petunia sees things so it'll be mostly her perception of people. And of course, they're eleven now, they're going to be going through a lot of changes and growing into their own with new experiences to change them so anything that might seem like I'm being negative now, it's likely prone to change. And I was wavering between Ravenclaw and Slytherin and while I feel like Slytherin could make plenty of sense, I did decide to throw them into Ravenclaw. I think Petunia's fierce need to know things would tip her into the eagles. What really got me, I will admit, was a guest going by Jen musing they would 'rule the roost' and I was absolutely charmed by the phrase. As for Violet knowing an immense amount of things that a muggleborn shouldn't, she has an easy answer for her young peers and will be using a slightly more complicated, vague reason for any particularly suspicious adults. This chapter isn't as long I'm afraid.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"Bravery, nerve, chivalry, courage, daring; the traits of the Gryffindors. Dedication, hard work, fair play, patience, kindness, tolerance, toil and loyalty for Hufflepuffs. Intelligence, wit, wisdom, creativity, originality, individuality and acceptance goes to Ravenclaw. Resourcefulness, cunning, ambition, self-preservation and fraternity by Slytherin.", Petunia mused aloud. "I'm not really sure if I'd be a Ravenclaw or a Slytherin. Which do you think Vi?"

"Well, you do have strong inclinations for Ravenclaw but I'm not sure if your ambition and self-preservation will outweigh even all of those eagle traits. We'll have to wait and see.", she said as she tapped her lip. Pet smiled at her- yes, her baby sister was most definitely her favorite. "What do you think, Pet? Which House would I be in?", she said with a smile and Pet hummed. Of course she'd thought about if before but they'd learnt from their many books that there were occasions that the students could more or less sway the Hat from the original choice so long as they had the appropriate traits.

"Well,", Pet murmured. "Right off the bat I would say Slytherin, but when I really think about Ravenclaw it gets a bit more difficult because I mean- Ravenclaw has more traits for you to fit. Anyways, shouldn't there be more words? Why not have all four Houses have the same number of descriptors? Slytherin and Gryffindors have fewer words. Official words anyways."

"Well who knows? Maybe we'll find out when we get there.", and then the door was sliding open again as Snape and Lily returned from their jaunt to the restrooms to change. Rolo stretched then stood, meowing plaintively as Snape sat and pet the white cat that immediately curled up on his lap. He was dressed now in a fairly nice looking robe, though his ratty shoes peeking out made Pet roll her eyes. Lily was wearing her nice shoes, shiny dark red ones and her own robes were open, her shirt tucked in and pantyhose beneath her skirt. While those two had gone to change at the restrooms, she and Vi dressed in the compartment. Both she and her littlest sister wore a pair of their fancier dancing flats. Pet wore her uniform so she could leave her robes open but Vi had kept her plain purple dress on under the long robes. A darker purple ribbon was tied in a bow at the back of her neck.

Pet glanced at the door and pulled out her wand, carefully casting a locking charm since those two dolts didn't bother locking it when they came back in.

"What was that?"

"Locking charm.", she said primly, sliding her wand back into the holster on her arm. She wasn't sure how Vi got them, but she said that it was better than putting them in a pocket. Far easier to access as well. Either way- that particular little locking spell was a Third Year spell, she was proud to think. Vi had gotten more than just this year's curriculum books, though honestly Pet wasn't sure how she'd managed to find out what books Second and Third Years were supposed to have. Not that the blonde was complaining. Her sister's penchant for preparation always did do them better. Vi had said they'd probably have a few of those books at the library but they'd most likely be old and ratty.

"You can already do a spell? Wow!", Lily gushed happily and Pet only just kept herself from hexing the twit. "But how did you get the movements like that? We're not allowed to use our wands..."

"We practiced with sticks.", Vi spoke up. Well their wands were sticks, so it was a fair enough statement.

"Oh! I wish I would have thought of that.", Lily frowned a little before smiling again. "So what House do you think you'll be in?", and Pet sighed.

"Probably Ravenclaw.", Vi answered for them. There was also the probability of Slytherin but Pet would rather keep that to themselves. Lily nodded easily.

"I hope I'll be in Gryffindor.", she said with a bright smile. Pet shared a glance with her youngest sister. "What about you Sev?"

"...-aw.", he mumbled quietly. When Lily sent him a questioning look he nervously cleared his throat. "I-I would rather be in Ravenclaw.", he said anxiously, glancing at the other two sisters. Vi nodded a bit and Pet sniffed. Seems like Snape took those books seriously then. Good- Pet didn't want a dolt for a follower.

"Well no matter which Houses we're in, we'll still be best friends.", Lily smiled and Pet blinked. Then snorted to herself, that was such a Lily thing to say. Snape looked at her with his usual dewy eyes when it came to _perfect_ pretty Lily.

"I need to use the restroom.", Pet stood suddenly. "Vi?", and the black haired girl nodded setting down Cleo (who briefly woke only to snuggle back into a ball to continue her nap), standing up as well. Pet carefully used the unlocking spell- the locking charm she used had a very specific unlocking charm. "Lock this when we're out.", she instructed the other two they shared their compartment with. As soon as they were out in the hall, Pet waited to hear the click of the lock before she sighed and looped arms with Violet. It'd been a fair four hours since they'd been moving but they wouldn't arrive until somewhere by seven. Which was to say, they had roughly three to four _more_ hours of dealing with Lily and Snape. Snape was only slightly more tolerable now that he didn't sneer or make faces at them and he was much, much quieter.

"I really do hope she ends up in Gryffindor; _away_ from us." she complained, "Could you imagine if we had to actually share a dorm with her? It'd be awful!"

"Well Lily may be fairly smart- don't make that face, she is- she isn't all that accepting or wise. Besides, she'd probably go by the books exclusively and one of the important traits for Ravenclaw is originality and creativity. As for her chances to Slytherin-" and here her little sister let out a snort. "Well. It's her least feasible House. Hufflepuff...", she trailed off thoughtfully. "I could see her going to Hufflepuff. Hard working, tolerant, fair play. But she'll probably be a Gryffindor. Chivalry, nerve, maybe courage. You know how Lily gets- remember when we saw her chasing that boy down and yelling at him for picking on Snape?"

"Who doesn't? She runs off everybody who looks at Snape wrong." it wasn't an exaggeration.

"Hufflepuffs are loyal and all but they wouldn't do that." Vi shrugged. "She just jumps onto a thought and stubbornly doesn't let it go. Gryffindor recklessness and needless heroics.", she shook her head. Then she paused and Pet paused with her, looking forward to see what grabbed her attention. It was the boy who lost his toad earlier. He was sitting sullenly, back against the door.

"Locked out?", Pet murmured, "Kicked out you think?"

"Both. Say,", she raised her voice, bringing the boy's attention to them. "Did you find your toad?"

He blinked, looking at them a bit closer. But who knew how many faces he'd seen when he and the girl walked about. "Er, yes.", he pulled something from his robe pocket and Pet's nose scrunched up because- keeping a toad in one's pocket? _Ew_. "And uh...Who might you be again?"

"Petunia and Violet Evans."

"Evans.", he blinked. "You're not related to a girl with red hair are you?"

"Our other sister." Vi answered and he grinned.

"Great! I can get back into my compartment now!", he said enthusiastically and carelessly shoved the toad back into his pocket. Well if that's how he always treated it, Pet could see why it would run off. But more to the point, she stared at him in distrust as he scrambled up to bang on the door. It slid open after a few moments.

"Find anything?"

"Her sisters!", he said as he pointed down the hall a bit at them. A head peeked out and Pet frowned. Messy black hair, round glasses. A crooked grin. She glanced down at Vi. There were some...Similarities in their faces. She shrugged, more concerned about what Lily had gotten into.

"Oi, you two! C'mere for a mo'," he called and Pet tensed, even warier.

"Why?", she asked, narrowing her eyes at the boy.

"Well you're sisters of that Evans girl aren't you?"

"And?"

"Just come here,", he insisted. Vi glanced at her, then back at the boy.

"He can't do anything- he'll be a First Year too.", she said before gently tugging her along. Then she and her sister, along with Longbottom went into the compartment. There were three other boys there already besides the one who opened the door and Pet eyed them all in distrust. The door slid behind them with a click as the boy who'd told them to come threw himself into a seat.

"Who are they?" a sandy haired boy with notably golden green eyes asked. He had a scar on his jaw that was also fairly eye catching.

"They're her sisters.", the boy who called them in explained smugly. He turned to them. "I'm James Potter." he greeted.

"Ah, so you're the one who riled her up earlier.", then snorted as she remembered their nickname for Snape. "Snivellus,", she snickered.

"It was pretty brilliant wasn't it?", he gloated. "So what're your names then?"

"Petunia and Violet.", Frank spoke up.

"Lily, Petunia, Violet." a boy with longer black hair mused. "All flowers? Is your mum named after a flower?"

"Yes.", she said, immediately glaring at the boy. He sounded condescending.

"Are you muggleborns?", the sandy haired one asked.

"Three muggleborn sisters in the same year?", the long haired boy scoffed. "Their mum's probably a squib or something."

"Muggleborn.", Vi said without sparing a glance at the long haired boy. "No squibs in our line."

"Impossible- how else would you have magic?"

"That theory was disproved years ago- there is no particular reason known for muggleborns having magic. Squibs may occasionally produce a witch or wizard but more often than not, they _don't_.", she said sharply. "Mr. Black.", she added as an afterthought.

"I didn't tell you my name."

"Lily said it earlier." she said, still not looking at him. Pet glanced between her sister and Black. Well, Vi had never steered her wrong before on people so she glared at Black.

"What did you boys want anyways?" she demanded, crossing her arms. "Something about Lily?"

"Well we just don't think she should be hanging around with people like the boy she was earlier," Potter said with another crooked smile, as though they were discussing something pleasant rather than this boy trying to dictate who Lily ought and ought not be friends with. Pet didn't much like her redheaded sister but she disliked boys like James Potter even more. "Y'know, Snivellus," and again he sniggered.

"Oh? Do you know him?"

"I don't need to- he said he would probably be a Slytherin like his mum and _everyone_ knows what kind of folks Slytherins are."

"Look, _boy_ ," she spat- that word she typically saved for Snape but now it seems the designation would belong to someone new, "I don't know what kind of hogwash you think about whatever House and the people in it but I don't like your attitude- I also don't think you have any say in who our sister is friends with and better Snape than a bully like you." with that, she spun on her heel, grabbed Vi's wrist and stormed out after slamming the compartment door open. "Stupid James Potter," she muttered under her breath. "I suppose I'll have to actually agree with the twit- James Potter is an absolute prat!"

"Completely irredeemable, you think?"

"I think if he goes into Gryffindor like he wants he will be." Pet answered darkly. "I hope he does end up there- he can be a stupid brash idiot all he likes and away from all us _normal_ witches and wizards!"

To think she wanted to get away from Lily and Snape only to walk into that!

"We'd best avoid the lot of them then, shouldn't we?"

"If they're like-minded," Pet agreed, "Probably are. And that boy was kicked out! Who would be friends with someone who would do that? That's not being friends at all!"

Not that Pet could say much about having friends. In primary, most of the kids flocked to pretty sociable _Lily_ rather than intelligent Pet or quiet Vi. Not that it mattered- she had Vi and she always would. Who needed those bunch of prats that always liked Lily more? Certainly not her! If they wanted that airhead they could keep her!

And there were always other kids who didn't care about Lily- those kids were her favorite and they did have a few friends among them. But now they would be getting new sets of friends from whatever House they get into- it was a given that whichever House one goes into the other will try to follow. And there will be so many more students than in their old primary as well.

"Shall we go back to our compartment?" Pet sighed. She didn't really want to go back to them. Lily trying to talk the entire time, or asking questions that Pet didn't want to deal with and that puppy of hers with his dewy eyes focused on the great big airhead. "We can read and perhaps she'll get the hint. Or maybe she'll take a nap."

"I don't think we'd be so lucky," she answered dryly but started heading back anyways. It's not like she'd just burst into compartments willy-nilly half way into the trip to Hogwarts. And they didn't really know anyone else yet. "Say Vi, how do you find all this information anyways? It can't all be in the books right?"

"I've got clairvoyant tendencies." Her sister replied without pause. Pet paused, staring at her sister before nodding because certainly Pet could believe that. Who knows what was possible with magic? "C'mon Pet, if we get back now we can be fairly well rested and stay up some of the night."

At this piece of blatant bribery, Pet put a little pep in her step to move back. Lily and Snape were reading the chocolate frog cards they'd gotten.

"Oh! Tuney, Lettie, the people on the cards, they can leave the frames!" she said when she saw them coming back in.

"I told you when we left that you should lock the door." Pet chided her airheaded sister who only gave a sheepish smile. Like that was going to change that she didn't do as Pet instructed or that she blatantly ignored what she said. Little berk. "And if I were in them, I'd certainly not want to be gawked at all the time." She scoffed, taking her seat and watching Vi lift up a drowsy Cleo to plop on her lap where the cat stretched happily.

"You took an awfully long time."

"We got sidetracked." Because there was no way she would actually tell her that she was right about James Potter to her face. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd much rather take a nap right about now."

"I think so too- but maybe that was the candy."

"Candy makes you hyper, not sleepy."

"But eating a lot makes me sleepy." Lily protested and Pet rolled her eyes, turning a bit to lay on the bench, Vi making room for her to coil up.

"I'm taking a nap, so keep it down!"

xXx

"It's time to wake up. It's time to wake up now, the train will stop soon." And Pet groaned, turning and burying her face into her sister's leg. She always radiated an immense amount of heat which was especially useful in fall and winter. "Pet, c'mon. We'll be going to the castle."

And she cracked open her eyes, mumbling as she sat up slowly, stretching out to get the kinks from her uncomfortable sleeping position out. Vi's droopy sleepy eyes looked back at her and she smiled because her little sister was the cutest. But speaking of sisters- she glanced over and made a face. Lily had taken up the entire seating area and Snape was left sitting and sleeping awkwardly on the floor. Rolo was on the floor absolutely tearing into a bowl of kitty food and she watched as Vi got up to shake at Snape's shoulder, rousing him very quickly as he darted up, alert even if he did look half-asleep. He blinked around in confusion while Vi woke Lily.

"Get up then." Pet snorted. She'd always been quick to shake off the vestiges of sleep. Lily was never so lucky and Pet had always felt pleased at that. "C'mon, haven't got forever you know?" she told as she straightened out her robes. And soon they were stumbling after them after the train had officially stopped. She held Vi's hand while she was pretty sure Lily held her other and Snape held hers to keep from separating as people left their compartments.

"Firs' Years!" came the call, just like Hogwarts; A History said it would and she led them over to a huge lumbering man. He was easily the largest man she'd ever seen in her life, and looked like he'd never heard of a shave either. "That all o' yeh?" he boomed, looking around at all of the children. "Righ' then, you'll want to follow me! And watch yeh step!"

"This is so exciting!" she heard Lily and rolled her eyes. She tightened her grip on Vi when he began leading them down a rocky path, hissing under her breath all the cusses she learned over the years and feeling a little better when she heard Vi's giggle.

"Someone could break their ankle like this!" she huffed when they finally seemed to reach the bottom of the rocky path. "And it's too dark too."

"There there, Pet." Vi smiled at her sweetly. Cleo was on her shoulders, head flicking this way and that way at the sounds around them. Magnus had flown off to get to the school proper when Pet had told him where to go and Lily's owl had followed the example. Rolo was beside Snape, trotting beside him briskly and he kind of looked like a guard dog.

"Alrigh', four to a boat!" came the shout and Pet squinted ahead.

"We're crossing the Black lake!" she could practically hear Lily jumping in excitement. And Pet sighed irritably because no doubt, those two would be getting on _their_ boat. Not more than a few minutes later had them sailing gently and Pet looked about curiously. Even if it was dark, it was awfully pretty.

"The Slytherin dorms," Snape spoke up quietly, "Are partially under this lake."

"Really?"

"My mum told me."

"That's amazing!" Lily gushed. "The book didn't really say where the dorms are at all, only that the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws have towers and that Hufflepuff and Slytherin are in the lower levels."

"That's because they're meant to be a secret." Pet pointed out then.

"But in that book with the student letters-"

"They didn't share the location around and if you'd read it properly, you'd have known that there were plenty of people who regretted telling where their dorm is!" she snapped, before turning away lest she get any angrier. Lily always did things half-way, never bothering to be patient and see everything before rushing off assuming she knows everything there is to know about it. It made Pet, a studious girl, very, very angry sometimes.

"There's a Giant Squid. In the lake." Snape spoke up suddenly, feeling the tension.

"A what?"

"Giant Squid. No, it's- it's not bad, it helps the students sometimes when they're swimming."

"People swim in this lake?"

"When it's warm enough presumably." Vi chimed in. "I'd like that I think."

"But…But we can't swim?" Lily asked confusedly.

"Maybe _you_ can't but we can." Pet scoffed.

"When did that happen?"

"With Mrs. Wyvern. You would know if you hadn't run off all the time."

"She probably would have let Severus play with us too." Vi said and Pet frowned at her.

"Don't encourage it." she mumbled but Vi only smiled at her.

"We won't be home long enough now that we're in school to deal with them all the time and I doubt Lily will remember by the time we go home for hols." she whispered back. Pet sighed and leaned back a bit, her fingers dipping into the water like Vi's had been since they gotten in.

"Can you swim, Sev?"

"…Yeah." and Pet glanced at him, at his stiff expression and knew there was a story there. But frankly, she didn't much care. Instead she turned her attention back to Vi who was serenely staring at the water. She heard Snape and Lily talking more but she tuned them out. The sway of the boats was nice and relaxing and she was jolted however long after by hitting the shore on the other side. She blinked slowly.

"You dozed off a bit." Vi told her as she looked around.

"With her…Eyes open?" Snape stared in alarm.

"It happens sometimes." Lily smiled, getting up. The rest did the same and Pet snorted in laughter when one boy slipped and fell face first, getting mud on his face. Vi politely hid her sniggers behind her hand while Lily looked over in concern.

"C'mon then, follow the rest." Pet huffed. She'd always been more of a leader like type, and it was only made stronger with the way Violet would follow her. Soon they were in the entrance hall and just like a good deal of the other students, they gasped in fear or awe when ghosts began flying through.

"-now I've told you a hundred times, the best thing to do is- oh! New students, hello! I do hope you'll be coming to my House; Hufflepuff!" came the kindly voice from a portly man in monk's attire.

"Oh surely not there," another man sniffed, dressed in Victorian dress. "They would surely find themselves more comfortable in the lion's den, Gryffindor!"

Pet startled when she heard a distinct harrumph beside her and turned to see, floating just behind Vi with her translucent ghostly hands on her baby sister's shoulders. There was a strange, foreboding stain in the abdomen of the flowing dress the woman wore and when she glanced, Lily looked fascinated and awestruck while Snape seemed particularly unnerved, but not surprised to see ghosts. But that's right, his mother was a witch right? Shouldn't he know all kinds of things?

She would talk to Vi about it later since she was always good with frightened animals. She could get Snape to talk.

"Men, all of them useless." The woman's ghostly, curiously neutral face turned down towards her sister. "You'll be in my house, won't you?"

"I'll do my best, Ms. Helena."

"Good girl." She smiled faintly, "You belong in my mother's House this time." And then the woman was drifting away.

"Who was that?!" Lily asked, grabbing onto Vi.

"It says it in Hogwarts; A History. She was the patron ghost of Ravenclaw, the Grey Lady." Vi's sharp eyes looked elsewhere. "And he," she nodded over to a particularly shadowy corner, "Is Slytherin's."

'He' was terrifying looking, dark armor and splattered in darker stains. And he was stood in the corner where not many noticed him. It was frightening.

"What," Snape spoke up so softly Pet almost didn't hear him. "Did she mean, 'this time'? Why did you call her Helena?" he looked nervous to be asking them, and already looked like he regretted opening his mouth when Vi's smile dropped off and she stared at him vacantly.

"What do you mean? I didn't call her that." She said after a moment, looking confused.

"But…But you did."

"But I really didn't…" she insisted, becoming upset.

"It happens sometimes," Pet listened to Lily whisper to him not quietly enough. "She'll say something or know something but then not know where it came from."

"Your sisters are…Weird." and Pet ignored it, jaw clenching painfully tight as she turned away from them, taking Vi's hand and leading her a bit closer to the doors while they were too busy talking about them. She deftly made her way, swerving this way and that so if the two dolts wanted to find them again before the sorting they wouldn't be able to.

"See if we ever do a bloody thing for either of them again-!" Pet snarled, hearing but disregarding some of the gasps from her cussing.

"Pet."

"Who do they think they are anyways? They think we're weird? They're the weird ones, thinking they're so good-"

"Pet…"

"I hate them both!" she hissed and Vi stopped, letting go of her hand to hug her back. Pet trembled in anger and hated that her eyes would get wet when she was angry enough.

"It's okay, Pet." she told her quietly. "We'll make lots of friends here surely."

"I know, Vi, I know." she sighed. "I just…Can't _stand_ …"

"You're not weird or a freak, Pet." Vi set her chin on her shoulder. "You're utterly fabulous, don't let anyone else trick you into thinking you're not."

"You're right as always, Vi." Pet laughed, swiping at her eyes quickly, turning to hug her tightly for a moment before smiling at her. "Anyways, how long are we going to wait here?"

Vi smiled, pointing towards the door. Pet looked over, just as the doors were opening and a strict looking woman with dark hair and dressed in tartan frowned at them all before going on a spiel about Houses and points and family. To be honest, she'd already read the speech and while she didn't have it memorized she knew the gist. At the end she suggested sharpening up with a pointed look at someone and Vi snorted in laughter. Then they were being ushered forward and into the Great Hall properly. Reading about it was one thing- _seeing_ it with her own eyes was another altogether. She turned to Vi to probably gush about but stopped.

Vi's smile was radiant and it looked like…It looked like she was coming home. It took Pet's breath away to see such intimate happiness on her baby sister's face and it made affection well up and overflow and she smiled, hugging her sister. She looked up at her questioningly and Pet smiled again, kissing her temple and taking her hand.

And then names were being called and every surname closer to 'E' made her more and more nervous. But a good kind of nervous, she assured herself.

"Evans, Lily!" and Pet withheld the snide comment, looking around until she saw Lily making her way through other new students, Pet quickly stepping out of line of sight. Her long red hair flowed behind her as she made her way to the stool, climbing up and when she was faced to the hall, Pet couldn't see her expression too well but could tell it'd be that daffy airheaded grin. She wasn't there long, the hat quickly putting her in Gryffindor. Pet breathed deep and Vi squeezed her hand comfortingly. "Evans, Petunia!"

There were some whispers and Petunia strode forward but made sure not to walk too fast like she'd seen some of the others do. She set herself on the stool and breathed again as her vision was obscured by the giant talking hat.

" _Hello then, you'll be the eldest won't you? Oh…Oh, yes, you could fit in fine with the snakes but I don't think that's the best for you…It'll have to be…RAVENCLAW!"_ and the hat was abruptly lifted, her ears ringing with his shout as she slipped from the stool, smiling a bit at the cheers and clapping from her new house as she made her way over, glancing back at the others.

"Are you related to the redheaded girl?"

"She's one of my sisters." She said before her attention turned back to the sorting. "My other one will be coming next."

"Another one? I don't recognize your name though…"

"Evans, Violet!" and she watched the way her sister seemed to practically float over to the stool, climbing up in a smooth motion.

"None of you look the same." one boy said dubiously. She glared at him for a moment before retuning her complete attention back to her baby sister. After a few more moments, Vi's feet began to kick in a habitual display of boredom and she wondered what was happening.

"She's taking an awfully long time."

"She might be a Hat-Stall." An older looking girl mused.

"Hat stall?"

"Usually if a person can fit in more than one House, there's a Hat-Stall so the hat can figure out which House to put them in." she explained in a whisper. Then she shrugged. "But no one really knows since whoever was a Hat-Stall doesn't talk about what happened when they were under the hat."

"Then how do you know-"

"Well of course people have looked into it! It's pretty special you know, usually only one or two a year." she chided.

"My mum said hat stalls are the hat deciding if a person can go into a house at all and that it's for useless people." one boy recited.

"Well you're mum's a jealous cu- uhhn…Er, a jealous woman." another boy piped in, older than them and with what Pet was pretty sure was a Prefect badge.

" _RAVENCLAW!"_

"Oh! I guess you'll be in the same house." The Prefect said but Pet was too busy clapping loudly. Her sister's eyes found her quickly and she swiftly headed towards her.

"Vi! I was worried for a few moments there."

"It couldn't decide between Ravenclaw and Slytherin," she explained.

"Well you'll be glad you didn't end up there. You're a muggleborn right? They don't take well to muggleborns and halfbloods over there."

"Some people here don't even like it…" Pet heard the mutter and frowned a little. Well they would simply have to ignore all of that silliness. Now that her sister was with her, Pet lost all interest in the sorting and listened idly to her new housemates' chatter. At some point and a good deal of children later, Vi tugged on her sleeve and nodded over.

"Snape, Severus!"

"Oh, who cares about that stupid boy?" she hissed but her sister sent her a flat look and she rolled her eyes but kept an ear out. There was quiet for maybe a minute and a half- longer than the others but not nearly as long as her baby sister- before the hat went off.

" _RAVENCLAW!"_ and Pet's head snapped around to glare before turning back to the table with a grumble.

"Thanks," she heard the boy mutter which meant that Vi waved him over. Pet resolved to ignore the prat. "It wanted Slytherin for a little while but…" he shrugged.

"I was just telling them, muggleborns and halfbloods aren't exactly welcome there." the Prefect repeated and Snape nodded nervously. A few more names and soon the Headmaster was standing. He was an old man with a long white bear and hair just as long. He also wore the strangest set of robes she'd seen yet, brightly colored and with moving somethings on them that she couldn't quite make out from the distance. When he began to talk, Pet started zoning out. Vi would tell her anything important then but his voice was difficult to listen to as anything besides background noise and she was too hungry at this point to care about whether or not it was polite to ignore one's Headmaster. When people began singing, she cringed and glared around. Some of them, she would swear, were entirely tone deaf. Who thought that would be a good idea anyhow?

"So?" she turned to her sister as food _finally_ appeared.

"Greeting the students, introducing the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, warning to stay out of the Forbidden Forest, the school's song," her sister began listing, "And what I assume are the names of the House elves in charge of each table for the food to appear."

"Impressive. Most firsties don't usually know that." the Prefect said, leaning closer.

"I read it in Hogwarts; Behind the Scenes." she admitted.

"Well, I think you'll fit right in around here." he grinned. "Now eat up! Tomorrow's a big day and all, best to keep up your strength."

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

After an atrocious amount of time, it's finally the second chapter! I hope this one is as well received as the first. If you've got the time, feel free to drop a li'l review down there; I might not respond to them all but I definitely read them!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disc.** \- So I still don't own Harry Potter. That's an ongoing thing and all.

 **This Story…** \- And here's the third chapter, the children easing into school life, getting a general feel for things. I'd also like to say that Lily isn't an awful person, no, but that she definitely doesn't understand things from Pet's point of view and she can't see the difference in the way they're treated which only makes a larger gap between them. And again- _**if it seems like I am bashing certain characters, this is through Pet's pretty immediate viewpoint, and they're only eleven right now. We don't see every little bit, we only see things she mostly perceives.**_ And I'm sure that while the Marauders are bullies (because they were), Snape certainly wasn't pristine in his time either. Neither party could be considered innocent and that's fine because in the end. Again. _Who they are at eleven certainly doesn't mean that they'll always be the way I'm portraying them right now._

Also also- be prepared for vicious Ravenclaw. And I am repurposing certain things, you'll see as you read.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"Due to a curse on the position itself? How does someone even put a curse on a job like that?" a boy whose last name Pet vaguely remembered as Wildsmith asked as they were led by the Prefect boy. He'd introduced himself as a sixth year Prefect Simon Spiers, babbling along cheerfully about this portrait they'd passed or some anecdote about that statue. Naturally, the inquisitive children listened but it was sort of a background noise.

"It's not cursed," Vi spoke up, "It's just jinxed. Has been since Professor Merrythought retired."

"Read that in one of the books? In Flourish and Blotts?" another girl piped in curiously and Vi nodded along easily. "The one I read said it really only brings the worst out of whoever was dumb enough- er, _brave_ enough…" she hurriedly tacked on, "To take the job. I mean, I couldn't really understand some of the things it was saying about _why_ they thought that might be but it was really interesting!"

"I say it's all rubbish." another girl groused, scowling. "There's no way it could be cursed or jinxed or whatever! It's probably just that Dumbledore is really bad at hiring people."

"But Professor Dumbledore isn't the only one evaluating and reviewing applications and their subsequent applicants." the Prefect suddenly butt in. "It's certainly not just Dumbledore who runs the school y'know. We've still got a Board of Governors, still have Ministry mandated subjects and regulations to follow and it's not as if any of the professors hired here are just dunces and dolts. They have to go through a lot of screening to be professors in the first place." he lectured them. The girl who'd had the bad attitude (since she was sorted, Pet thinks) scowls harder, staring down at the floor in furious embarrassment. Pet doesn't think they'll be getting along with her, and good riddance to the potential friend if that was how she was going to be when they hadn't even _been_ here for a full day. It'd certainly be _her_ loss anyways.

"Say, how long is it going to take getting to our new common room? How long will it take do you think, for us to get from the Great Hall to it? Or back to the Great Hall?"

"Excellent question, five points to Ravenclaw for strategic forethought." he grinned at them with a wink.

"But Prefects can only deduct points can't they?" Wildsmith frowned at him and he grinned a bit more widely.

"Correct. And only from their own House. Just seeing if anyone would catch that but since we're Ravenclaw I suppose I should know better. Either way, for your little legs it will only take maybe twenty minutes from the entrance to the Great Hall. But, if you use a few shortcuts you'll get there within ten minutes."

"Will we be shown those shortcuts?" Snape asked warily, standing close to Vi given she was the only one he really knew besides Pet and Pet had made clear that she would be ignoring him for what he'd said earlier.

"Not from me you won't!" he told them gleefully and Pet was definitely getting the strong feeling that he wasn't a cheerful person in a friendly way but a rather sort of mean way. And that she might not believe everything he said. "But by all means, you can certainly ask the other prefects or Ravenclaws. Just don't expect to get that favor without having to return one. Welcome to the hierarchy kids, and you're at the bottom of it." he grinned again, "Prepare to be bossed around and run errands for older years, since the first year and especially your workload is so much easier and lighter than the other years. In fact, until Third Year you likely won't be climbing up the ladder, so to speak. Look at that, I was just nice enough to explain it. Some Prefects don't do that and it's a _nasty_ shock."

"We won't be doing any of that," Vi murmured gently enough to a nervous looking Snape that only Pet overheard. "I've already got the shortcuts we need."

"…How?"

"Research." she said easily. "If an older year tries to bully you into something though, tell me." Snape looked about to ask what she would be able to do about it but nodded anyways. Pet glanced at her sister, touching her elbow to get her to lean closer so Pet could whisper in her ear. Vi considered it for a moment before turning her eyes back to Snape. "By the way, you never did say whether or not you knew any magic."

Snape jumped a little, paling and wearing a startled guilty look. Vi's continuous, unblinking stare; the few people she'd forced to endure it were always quick to give whatever she wanted from them before, Pet had noticed, and it was no different now.

"It…It was mostly potions. And mum's old books." he mumbled, twisting his robe in his hands nervously. Vi's stare didn't let up as they continued their trek to their tower. He winced, then reluctantly spoke again, "Sometimes, I may have…May have used her wand when she wasn't paying attention…I wasn't very good though."

Well of course not, Pet snorted to herself. Not only was he using a wand meant for someone else, but he was only eleven! Their magic was still weak- like Vi had continuously told her, it was like a muscle and consciously using it with a wand would slowly help it along. And that it would of course be weaker now than say, this time next year. Even if it was only a little bit stronger. Practice makes perfect and all. Not that she was going to say any of that to that berk.

"I heard that Ravenclaw is the most cutthroat House." someone spoke up.

" _Slytherin_ is-" the girl with the bad attitude (Pet was a bit happy that she hadn't bothered remembering her name) began.

"Ah ah ah, little Vaisey. Slytherin is the House of fraternity." Spiers grinned again. "And the 'acceptance' in our list of official Ravenclaw traits is in regards to new knowledge and theories, not to our social lives. We _are_ the most vicious House. You'll see that soon enough, trust me; sabotaging a fellow 'Claw or other students for a higher spot in academics is practically a House quality. Oh sure, Slytherin can be cunning all it wants. But _Ravenclaws_ are the ones who sneak about the most, dig into the most things we aren't supposed to, the ones planning out ways to get ourselves ahead the most. They play social games. We don't." then he shrugged, his vicious grin being replaced for the friendly cheerful one of earlier. "If you want a politician, go to Slytherin, if you want charisma and mine fields to tiptoe in for conversations, go to Slytherin. But _knowledge_ is power. Ravenclaw is for those who don't care for all of those politics and niceties because we know where the _real_ power is. Why do you think people associate gossip with Ravenclaw more than any other House?"

"Blackmail?"

"You bet your Ravenclaw crest blackmail!" he laughed happily, as though they weren't talking about being morally disinclined somehow. But Pet could see that because if it benefitted her and Vi, she would amass all the knowledge she could and the rest can rot.

"But…But I thought that kind of stuff was for Slytherin? Ambition and-"

"Pfft. They have ambition but you certainly don't see, in _any_ year, a _Slytherin_ in the top five in any classes. Those are almost solidly occupied and monopolized by Ravenclaws. With a few exceptions of course, but those exceptions are few and far between." he waved off idly. "In my opinion, Slytherin ambition is either shortsighted or based on stupid cultural traditions."

"…Blood purity?" another muggleborn girl asked timidly. Diane Williams, Pet remembered her for her interesting beauty moles.

"Exactly. We're going to straighten this nonsense out right now, let me tell you because while we can be awful to eachother we don't like people in our House holding onto stupid ideologies." Pet saw quickly who made faces at that, ones that spelled that they might just have those said 'ideologies'. "Doesn't mean there aren't people like that in our House but generally, we're just plain too smart to believe in those kinds of things. Now, because our History professor is a ghost who teaches about nothing but the Goblin Wars with outdated material I will tell you that way, _way_ back in the day, Slytherin was right to fear muggleborns."

"What?" one boy gasped, not the only one shocked. Vi and her had already talked about things like this before coming here.

"Religious nuts tend to try to kill magic folk and there were helluva- _er_ , quite a great number of them back then. It was an extremely valid concern back then, that the muggleborn families would spill the secret because there had been a lot of cases where a child born with magic in a muggle family was killed by their family for it. _However_ , Slytherin turned his anger and fear on the muggleborns irrationally, he decided that muggleborns weren't worthy of the magic they were born with. It didn't help that many of the muggleborns of the time were raised to believe that witchcraft was evil and generally recoiled from the traditions already in place and not many of them were schooled beforehand, leaving a good chunk of them illiterate. A few even outright detested magic, claiming they were all going to be condemned, that they were all freaks, yada yada yada."

"They thought that? Even when they had magic?"

"A few were convinced they were kidnapped and possessed. Because if the family was deemed dangerous to their magical child or if they abandoned their child, they _were_ kidnapped to the magical world. Not all of them were nutters, but there were a good deal of them that thought it was the magical world's fault that they were cast out, not because their families were in a mad cult."

"Mad cult?"

"I think most religions are cults but that's a personal opinion." he explained briefly before jumping back into his explanation. "So anyways, Slytherin had a reason for his anger and whatever. But then, because he began to hate them and hate does funny things to perception, he decided witches and wizards born from muggle families or with muggle blood weren't good enough to have magic. Now anyone with a brain will realize that not adding muggle blood every so often will mean inbreeding. And because this section of Europe- Blighty, Ireland, Scotland- tends to stick to itself, it means a smaller gene pool."

"A what?"

"Who can, in simple terms, explain this?"

"The gene pool is where we get our genes from and we get our genes from our parents. Anything hereditary, looks, health, magical traits can be attributed to the genes we get from our parents that they got from their parents and so on." One boy answered cleanly. "Mum's a science educator." he tacked on.

"Very good, Mr. Powell." Spiers nodded. "And when Purebloods inbreed; marrying their first or second cousins, uncles or aunts, any of that; there's a higher chance of producing a squib or those whose magic levels can't be invited to Hogwarts. For example, when a 'bloodtraitor' goes off the main family and has a child with a muggle or muggleborn, that child's magic will likely be stronger than if the 'bloodtraitor' married another Pureblood. And when I say Pureblood, I don't just mean a first or second generation because a real Pureblood would scoff and still call them mudblood, I'm talking about the old school families."

"You- you said-"

"Mudblood is a derogatory term for those who don't know and very much frowned upon. I don't care for it but it's a stupid way to call someone, especially if the person they're calling mudblood likely has stronger magic."

"What? There's no way _mudbloods_ are stronger than a Pureblood!" the sour girl whose name was apparently Vaisey spit out.

"Of course you'd think that, little Vaisey, of course you would. But if you'll read _anything_ published by the Confederation of Wizards in the past forty years, you'd really know better than to think that."

"My daddy says the Confederation is nothing but a bunch of useless mudblood upstarts." she hissed. What the hell was she thinking, mouthing off at an older student who'd only just earlier talked about how vicious Ravenclaw was? She was going to make herself a target, more than she did before. And not just for him. She could see other faces looking at her in either outrage or shock. Pet knew her own mouth was turned down in hostility.

"But those same mudbloods, as you say, have power from all over the world, have access to all over the world and has witches and wizards from all over the world. They are the _strongest_ magical power in the world and they hold power over our own Ministry. If they were useless and weak, they wouldn't have that power now would they? For that matter, if anyone goes out of the country they can expect their blood purity to drop in value. As in, no one cares about it because _most_ magical communities have dropped that useless and oftentimes detrimental ideology. But because Hogwarts is the only magical school in Britain and Slytherin was a Founder, we still have it going strong."

"Durmstrang-"

"Durmstrang doesn't allow muggleborns, yes. Durmstrang isn't the only school in that area. It's just the most famous one over here because again, blood purity fanatics who hate muggleborns run rampant here so that's the only school there they pay any attention to. And it's not Pureblood only because of blood purity. In case it's escaped your notice," he said with a vicious undertone but with kind smile still in place, "The muggle and magical worlds are separated. Of course they're going to have separate schools, since Purebloods already know things that muggleborns wouldn't. The separate schools ensure that muggleborns learn everything they need to alongside regular classes. How to use a quill and parchment, about the legal systems, about the banking systems, anything that deviates from the muggle world to the magical world. And their own government is chock-full of muggleborns and halfbloods and their laws are much friendlier to creatures and beings and yes, Dark magic because of it."

"But then what about halfbloods? Hm? Because they can't go to Durmstrang!" Vaisey argued hotly.

"…Who in the nine hells told you that rubbish?" he asked after staring at her for a few quiet moments. "Of _course_ they accept halfbloods, as long as they were raised in the magical world even partially. And in Durmstrang, their 'muggle studies'? Is actually accurate. Ah, another warning about classes- don't take the Muggle Studies course when it's offered because it's so backwards I can gag. Only thing it's good for is a laugh and even then it's not worth it."

He grinned and stopped the group who'd, for the most part, become distracted during their chat.

"Welcome to Ravenclaw Tower!" he said cheerfully. "As some of you may have noticed, it's in the west side of the castle, and on the fifth floor we have here a set of stairs! If you'll all follow me up these _lovely_ stairs- hope none of you get vertigo easily-" he babbled as they began an ascent up a tightly curled spiral staircase, hidden in an out of the way and very thin corridor. "We'll get to the entrance! C'mon, c'mon, no pushing, don't want to fill the Hospital Wing before classes even start!"

"Ugh, why are there so many stairs?"

"Ow! You stepped on my foot!"

"Quit shoving!"

Pet sighed at all of the noise around them, one hand in her sister's and the other in a tight fist as she scowled darkly. When she glanced back at her sister to make sure no one was crowding her, she briefly saw her other hand being held tightly in Snape's who looked downright squeamish to be packed in so closely with the others. There were, after all, twenty new First-Years cramming up a tiny set of spiral stairs together behind a boy Pet was now entirely sure was a sadist in some form. And while she listened to him, she took his warnings about their new House with a grain of salt because there was no way it was as immediately ruthless. Because unlike some of their new yearmate's, they'd read from previous students. While she believed that they would be pushed about, she didn't think they'd be outright treated as servants. Though there were cases of that in the letters and essays, it wasn't exactly an 'all-of-the-youngest' type thing. And it was mostly just helping rather than being a servant. So really, she thought he was just trying to unnerve them. But she trusted his words on blood purity and about Durmstrang. They might not have many books on the other magical communities of the world but Vi had managed to acquire a few and while they haven't gone through them together (having been too occupied reading up on the home turf and new school), Pet did think the whole blood purity thing was cockamamie shit.

Still, they followed him up the steps.

"Alright! Can everyone see this door here?"

"It's a door? It doesn't have any knobs or handles!"

Pet peeked over a few heads to try to see.

"Yes, very observant of you! But do you see this huge eagle knocker? It talks! I call him Barley, like barley sugars but y'know, some people have their own names for it." he shrugged and Pet huffed.

"I'm going to call it Dip Dab." Vi said behind her and Pet sighed.

"I thought you liked lemon sherbets more?" she asked. Truthfully, Violet was a sugar fiend. She loved any and all candies but she was especially a sucker for chocolate or lemon sherbets.

"Well I can't just call it Lemon, Pet, that'd be strange." her sister answered her and Pet shook her head, some of the aggravation of being cramped in with others easing because she would call it Dip Dab but not Lemon?

"Alright, alright, listen up!" and they turned to attention as Spiers turned to the knocker. "Right then. Barley, something easy for the kids will you?"

"What has no beginning, middle, end and touches every continent?"

"The ocean." he answered confidently and Pet blinked. She'd thought it'd be some sort of intangible thing, like war or knowledge or something. Not something so…Literal.

"Sometimes we overthink and feel all the more silly for it, but not everything has a difficult answer." her sister told her. "Don't worry too much, I'm sure it won't be hard if it gives out riddles like that. If it is, we can just collect a books of riddles or something."

"I heard that, black haired Ms. Evans! That's usually what the knocker does- gives riddles with easy answers to remind us that not everything has layers upon layers beneath it to figure out." Spiers said, even as the knocker said something or other and the door opened up.

When they were ushered in, Pet found herself a little amazed, even more than she'd been in the Great Hall. It was a wide, open circular space with a domed ceiling painted with stars that she believed were charmed as they twinkled above them. The floor was plush and midnight blue with more stars and constellations but _didn't_ look faded or dirty, even with all of the Ravenclaw students. Pet wouldn't lie and say she wasn't interested in those charms or runes or whatever managed that because never cleaning or having to buy a new carpet or rug would really make their home so much better. The windows were pretty and arched delicately and even in the dark, oh Pet just knew that whatever the view was it must be incredible in the light. The bookshelves were light colored and curved to fit the walls, walls that when not made of bookshelves were covered in blue and bronze silk tapestries. Tables and chairs that looked comfortable but not so much that one might be distracted from work to, say, nap. Directly across, there was another door and beside it, Pet was able to make out what must have been a statue. It was tall and of a woman. But Pet was squinting to see even that much because this room was so large.

Well. And she had some bad eyesight.

"Welcome to the Common Room! We've got so many books here but honestly, you're more likely to find Ravenclaws in the library to read because a lot of what's up here is pretty advanced stuff. C'mon, enough gawking at the older kids here- and for you to stop gawking at my kids!" he spoke louder to some of the older students watching them. "This door we're coming up to will be the entrance to the dorms- men cannot go into the women's dorms but they can come into the men's. This is where we'll be splitting the boys from the girls. Oi, Vane! Not you second-year, your sister!" he called out as they got closer to the dorm entrance.

"It's a statue of Rowena Ravenclaw." Vi whispered to her and Snape.

"I thought she'd be prettier." Pet said after a few moments. She was actually pretty plain in face on the statue.

"Well they were still just people Pet. Gryffindor got quite fat in his time teaching, Helga was mostly known for her outrageous bosom size and shortness and Slytherin looked like a gorilla." Vi whispered in her ear, this time solely for her to hear. Pet sniggered at the images her mind made.

"Calm down, Spier, I'm right here." a young woman spoke up. She turned to them. "I'm Agatha Vane, Sixth-Year female Prefect. I'll show you to the girls dorm."

"Goodnight Snape." she heard her sister say.

"Good night Evans." he sighed, nervous again.

"Don't forget to feed Rolo again. And we'll wait for you before we go to breakfast." she said next and Pet sighed.

"Right. Erm…Thanks, Evans." he said quietly but with a disgusting little bit of appreciation before they were being gestured through the door and splitting at the fork. One stairway leading left and the other leading right.

"Can't we just ditch him, leave him on his own?" she asked her sister as they followed Vane.

"If he proves useful…" her sister tapered off meaningfully and Pet sighed.

"He's a nervous little twit! I don't think he can even make friends."

"People change over time Pet, don't be silly. Now that he's here and away from his parents, I think it'll do him a world of good."

"If you say so, Vi. But I swear if he disappoints us, we chuck him straight back with Lily."

"I don't think he will." she answered and Pet made a frustrated noise. Her sister wasn't often wrong.

"Alight, here we are."

"Why are our dorms at the top?"

"You're firsties, and if anything should for some reason happen, you'll be safest back here. I'll bet you my entire trunk that Spiers is telling the boys it's to make the firsties suffer for being firsties so they have to walk longer." she huffed. "Don't take anything he says _too_ seriously unless it's about history. Otherwise, he tends to exaggerate ridiculously just to mess with people. The prick." she snorted.

"He tried to say Ravenclaw is the most vicious House." Vaisey spoke up and Pet glared at her. So did a few of the other girls.

"Oh, we are. I said he exaggerates, not that he lies." the older girl said flippantly, opening their dorm door. "But things shouldn't be too hard on you yet so don't worry too much. At worst, you might be asked to run a few errands when it's testing time for the older years. In you go, you can choose your own beds, your trunks are by your beds but feel free to switch if you want." She told them and Pet looked around. The carpet was the same midnight blue as in the common room but without the stars and the room itself was large and split into two with a divider, a wide arch leading to the connecting room of more beds with trunks. The beds were marvelous and huge and the blankets were deep blue, curtains around it to shield them from either light or cold.

Pet was quick to find her and her sister's side by side, pleased they were by a large window.

"Oi, Evans!" came the call as the female Prefect left. "I want that bed!", it was that Vaisey girl, dragging her trunk behind her as she came to a stop in front of Vi's bed. Vi looked at her blankly.

"No." she said after a moment.

"Excuse me?"

"I said no. This is my bed."

"No," Vaisey scowled, kicking her sister's trunk threateningly, "It's _my_ bed."

Pet watched from where she sat on her own bed passively. So she had a perfectly good view of the way her sister's wand slipped into hand and the muttered spell as Vaisey yelped, collapsing to the ground. It was harmless really, the jelly legs jinx and Vaisey was lucky she didn't get something worse done as Vi pet Cleo contentedly. "This is my bed, Vaisey. Go back to your own."

Pet was pleased at the snickering from some of the other girls as Vaisey glared angrily, shakily trying to get up but falling again before she crawled back to the bed her trunk had originally been by, the one by the door. That girl, Pet thought, would be a problem. She shared a glance with her sister before the girl starting waving her wand, security jinxes and traps being put in place if any of the others got the idea to try anything and Pet carefully, precisely copied her actions and mutters. Her sister seemed to just know how to do everything and sometimes she even used magic without using any words at all.

But if she was clairvoyant, maybe that explained some things. Pet didn't really know but it was in their favor anyways so she didn't really feel the need to question it. She was sure her sister would explain some day but for now, they were fine.

Pet felt a wave of drowsiness, frowning. She'd wanted to stay up a bit longer…

"We should get some sleep Pet. That way we'll be well rested for the first day." her sister said reasonably and Pet nodded, moving to dig out her sleep clothes, her sister and a few other girls doing the same before they migrated around, using the bathroom, making sure everything was taken care of before they chatted together. There were twelve girls in their year, hence the way there were two room for their beds; Diane Williams, Charlotte Vaisey (ugh), Beatrice Bloxam, Irene Rackharrow, Deborah Blortt, Isadora Rosier, Macy Twiddle, Veronica Brocklehurst, Maryanne Greengrass, Marlene Dearborn and her and her sister. Pet was sure she would forget more than half of their names by the time morning comes but still. But only they, Diane and Deborah were muggleborns. Pet climbed into her bed, taking part in the various goodnights to the others before turning to look to her sister.

"Goodnight Vi."

"Goodnight Pet." and both girls shut the curtains around their beds.

xXx

The first two weeks of school, Pet was able to dodge her Gryffindor sister entirely; too busy making friends, learning the names a little better and the layout that Vi was already so familiar with and their new classes. She didn't even have to really deal with Snape either in all the commotion and he usually stuck to Vi rather than her anyways. Classes weren't too difficult and what minor spells and work they did do were things she and Vi had already gone over before coming here. And the history class was the chance to study even farther, if not studying actual history besides what Binns droned on about. Why keep a ghost on anyways?

But anyways, she couldn't avoid Lily forever. She'd caught them one day, Vi and Pet, on a free period. Normally Snape would detach himself from the safety of Violet free periods to spend time with Lily but it looks like Lily found them, Snape slinking on behind her.

"Tuney!" Lily greeted her cheerfully and Pet grit her teeth. "Lettie! Wow, it's been so long already! I was trying to get to you both earlier but you kept on disappearing!"

Pet shooed along Diane, Macy and Marlene, the girls they usually hung out with to turn to her sister when it seemed Lily didn't just want a quick greeting. The three girls looked at Lily curiously- their new friends had been relatively quiet on the other Evans girl in their year but ultimately nodded and went ahead to the library. Pet and Vi would meet them there as soon as the airhead was done talking.

"How are things in Ravenclaw? Sev says some of it's terrible but that it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be," she asked, a bit worried at the end.

"Everything is fine." Pet sniffed. Vaisey had made herself into a bigger target, sometimes snapping at older students who were unafraid of hexing the young girl. She just would not learn to keep her mouth shut and while she felt like Greengrass and Rosier might have some of the same views, those two kept it to themselves. So most antagonism that would be directed at First-Year girls was directed at Vaisey. She knew Spiers and his buddies tended to take advantage of the male firsties though, Vi would sometimes tell her about what Snape would tell her about who was made to do what for the older boys. But even though Snape clung to Vi most of the time, he _did_ seem to be making friends and maybe, just a little, settling in.

"James Potter and his friends are still prats but Remus is nice if you get him alone and so is Peter." Lily babbled on, "I swear, whenever he opens that big mouth of his, nothing but stupidity comes out! And Black only ever talks about how evil Slytherin but did you know, the Blacks-"

"Are a traditionally Slytherin Pureblood family. Yes, we did know." Pet cut her off sharply. "It was in Pet's book of famous families."

"Oh- right. I forgot you had that book honestly." Lily smiled sheepishly. "But isn't everything amazing here? I'm having a blast! I'm still not so good with the quill and parchment but Sev here is teaching me!"

"You mean you didn't try to practice at all before coming?"

"I thought it'd be like paper and pencils or pens." Lily shrugged, "But it's so difficult sometimes! I wish I could have gotten one of the charmed ink pots instead so I wouldn't keep spilling the ink or putting too much on my quill." Lily sighed and Pet shared a loot with Vi. She'd grabbed ink wells, pretty fancy ones in all sorts of interesting colors and qualities. Pet's favorite so far was a shimmery pink one. But on their essays and homework they were really only allowed to use plain black ink.

And yeah, learning to use a quill was hard but that's why Vi had looted them practice quills to help. A very small part of her debated on giving one of the charmed practice quills to her redheaded sister but the thought was gone as soon as it had come. No way was she sharing with her. She could go on as she had. Besides, if that was why Snape left them alone free periods, she wasn't about to do something that might have him staying with Violet otherwise. Even if it was likely that he would still go to Lily instead, there was always the possibility.

Snape might be making some friends but Vi was still a safe spot.

"Do you have help in Ravenclaw to help you learn?"

"We practiced before coming here. Practice makes perfect." Pet responded automatically than scowled a little. She didn't want to encourage Lily's talking.

"Oh! Like you said with the wand movements? Maybe when we go home, Sev and I can practice with you?" Lily asked brightly and Pet stared at her. Because no, she did not want Lily and her dewy-eyed puppy interrupting her and Violet's time together.

"But we're only at home for two weeks during winter hols," Vi spoke up. Since coming to Hogwarts, she had taken over social interactions regarding people Pet didn't like so much, a drastic change to how she was before coming along. Maybe it was her clairvoyance thing, that she simply just fit in better with the magical world than with the muggle one. Ah, but in the magical world it was called being a Seer. Pet didn't think her sister would be spewing out prophecies but she did know a lot of odd things. "So we'll probably spend most of it with mum and dad."

"Oh…Well that's true I guess…" Lily frowned.

"Lily Oh, are these your sisters?" a girl called to them and Pet thought she very, very vaguely might recognize her?

"Alice!" Lily grinned. "Alice, this is Petunia and Violet! Tuney, Lettie, this is Alice Meadowes!"

"The girl from the train, looking for the toad." Vi murmured to her and Pet nodded.

"Wow! Lily talks about you two a lot and while I got to meet Severus, it's nice to be able to meet her sisters!" the dark-haired girl grinned at them kindly.

"Nice to meet you as well." Pet said accordingly. She didn't care about Lily's friends though so she couldn't really express any real feeling into the words. Not that she or her airheaded sister seemed to notice. Snape winced behind them, apparently having caught on to how Pet's voice would be slightly different around people she didn't particularly care for. It makes sense Lily wouldn't recognize it considering it was usually the tone she used with her. But Snape was in their House and often around Violet, thus Pet as well by extension.

"Hello." Vi greeted. While she was certainly more social, her voice didn't change much with her emotions. She was still soft spoken and mellow in tone. Whether or not she meant what she said was impossible for Pet to figure out but she knew her sister well enough that it was likely that she was only politely interested.

"Maybe we could all spend some time together?" Alice suggested with a happy smile and Pet pursed her lips to not say something mean to the girl. She hadn't done anything to earn her ire yet other than be Lily's friend.

"We were actually on our way to the library," Pet said, "We're studying." and this had the intended affect.

"Studying? In a free period?" Lily frowned.

"We're Ravenclaws." Vi put in.

"Maybe we could join you?" Lily asked after a few moments of internal debate between having to study but also spend time with her sisters. Pet frowned, jaw clenching.

"Our friends," Vi spoke up, "Are nervous around the different Houses."

"Really?"

"You wouldn't talk to a Slytherin would you?"

"No way!" Alice balked at the idea. "But those are Slytherins!"

"What? But Alice, what about your cousin in Slytherin?"

"Well that's different." Alice waved off easily. "Marcus is my cousin and all but he's still a Slytherin!"

"We really need to go. Maybe some other time." Pet spoke up, grabbing Vi's hand to drag her along.

"Oh! Sure…" Alice startled.

"I'll see you later! Tuney, Lettie!" Lily called as they hurriedly escaped. When they made it to their claimed table, their group looked to them.

"I've never really looked closely at her but your sister's eyes are green too." Macy said, looking at Violet. "But they're not like your eyes at all."

"I look more like my great aunt." Vi shrugged.

"You haven't really talked about your other sister very much?"

"We don't get along so much." Pet sniffed.

"Isn't Snape friends with her too?"

"He was friends with her far longer than he started hanging around us." Pet scowled and they traded looks. It'd become apparent that Petunia and Snape had no love lost between them.

"So he wasn't like how he is now?"

"Oh, he was still a hanger-on; he just followed Lily around when they ran off. The only reason he hangs onto Vi now is because she's in a different House." she scowled. "But I figure, once he's a bit more comfortable that will taper off. He was Lily's follower, not Vi's."

"Really?" Daisy asked, already sliding over books for the two. They'd gotten quite close to Daisy, Macy and Marlene so far but they were passable friends with Irene Rackharrow and Deborah Blortt. They'd also made nice with a few of the boys as well; Albert Davies was fairly friendly, as was Marty MacDougal and his brother Morty. They hadn't really gotten around to making too many friends outside of their House but in classes, Pet liked to think they had a few acquaintances by now. Ravenclaw got along pretty well with the other three Houses, even if they were sometimes called dry bookworms. The same way the Slytherins were called slimy liars, or the Gryffindors brash idiots or the Hufflepuffs (poor, poor Hufflepuffs) were called useless. Just stupid mean things.

Oh sure, their teachers so far try to tell them to get along but she knew a moment later they'd pit them against eachother for the House Cup, for Quidditch, any of that. Not so much their own Head of House, the amazing Professor Flitwick and she didn't much think Professor Sprout was exceptionally competitive but Slughorn and McGonagall must've been because there was no way the rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin would be so strong if they weren't.

"Say, what's your favorite class so far?"

"I like Charms." Diane smiled at Macy, who smiled back.

"I think I like Transfigurations more."

"I liked the Flying Lessons. But if I had to pick an actual class, I'd say History because it's really just a free period." Marlene grinned at them. Pet sniggered with Macy while Daisy sighed.

"Well, you know Vi's favorite is Potions."

"She does have some sort of sixth sense about it doesn't she?" Marlene hummed, plopping her head on her hand. "What about you Pet?", ah yes, and her roommates have taken to her nickname nicely.

"Me? I suppose for now it's Astronomy. But I already know that as soon as we're able I'll take on Arithmancy and Ancient Runes at least." she said confidently. "So has anyone looked at the extracurricular classes?"

"I was thinking of looking into the one with the xylomancy."

"The divination with twigs thing? I suppose, if you put a lot of stock in divination." Pet shrugged. Sure, her sister is clairvoyant but honestly, Pet didn't think she'd ever be much interested in the subject and she knew Vi wouldn't be picking up that class. "I was looking at Magical Theory. I would like to be in the Orchestra but I can't really play any instruments. Yet." she went on.

"I think the Magical Theory class sounds interesting." Diane nodded. "And you could always join the Frog Choir- but you'll need to be able to sing."

"I can do that." Pet shrugged. Vi had struggled with it for a little while, seemingly tone deaf but in the last few years she'd gotten much better when they would sing with mum so if she did go into the Frog Choir, hopefully she could drag Vi with her.

"I think I'll try Ghoul Studies and Ancient Studies."

"Naturally." Pet nodded with the other girls.

"Well either way, let's get down to business then shall we?"

xXx

"I do like Transfigurations very much," Vi told them quietly as they left the classroom. They had the class with Hufflepuffs. "And the way she teaches." she added on.

"I like potions more." Snape admitted just as quietly and Vi nodded. Every few classes, Pet would partner with Macy or Daisy and Vi would partner with Snape when that happens. Professor Slughorn would watch him and her sister closely sometimes after the first two times they worked together. Which _could_ be because their potions always came out perfectly.

"Potions is good," Vi agreed and Pet sneered a little. She didn't like how casually the two got along but damned if she would try to dictate who Vi should spend her time with. Then she'd be like that awful boy Lily was always complaining about when she wasn't mooning over the school in general.

"But I…" Snape hesitated, "Wish we had a…Different professor."

"I understand." Vi assured him. Well, Pet could agree with that at least. Professor Slughorn was nice and all but he was a little…Obnoxious. Professor McGonagall though, she was a wonderful professor, no-nonsense but she did help them as needed. It was professors like her that Pet liked the best but her own Head of House was also a favorite. Ah, and they'd already signed up for Frog Choir, her, Vi and Daisy. Macy crunched up her nose and Marlene said she couldn't sing to save her life. Pet wanted to insist that she could learn, like Vi did but let it go. Vi certainly wouldn't be getting any solos or anything but she'd gotten much better.

"Alright! Time for lunch!" Albert grinned, butting between Snape and Vi, slinging his arms around both of them. "In _my_ opinion, lunch is the best. Well, it's competing with dinner I guess but still!"

"I swear I'd think you were a Gryffindor, the way you think with your stomach." Morty rolled his eyes, pushing him forward and making all three pitch forwards.

"Oi, it's more than just me here!" Albert scoffed, turning to the other boy. Snape slipped from his grip and Vi easily stepped out of it.

"Are we going or not?" she asked the boys.

"Yes, Ms. Violet." Marty skipped past his brother and Albert, hooking his arm with Vi's, her brother quickly taking up her other side. They were twins and at first, Vi was the only one able to tell them apart- they'd since taken to wearing different ties so they wouldn't get confused for eachother quite as much. But since Vi had always known which was which they'd taken to her nicely.

Vi always had been good at telling twins apart though. Pet huffed, rolling her eyes with Marlene.

"Halloween's almost here!"

"C'mon, you guys could be a bit more excited about it right?"

"I guess."

"I heard they do up the Great Hall." Albert told them with another grin.

"Sounds pretty." Diane said absently, glancing at Albert shyly. "I'll still miss dressing up and going out for treats with my dad."

"Did you really dress up and go out to people's houses? And they gave you candy?" Morty asked curiously. Apparently Purebloods and many Halfbloods didn't do that sort of thing in the magical world. "Easy as you please?"

"Of course." Pet waved off easily. They'd always gone trick or treating, either with one of their parents or with another group of kids when they had to work. Speaking of which, it was around time to write another letter home. They'd taken to writing at least one letter a week to their parents and included a letter for them to give to Mrs. Wyvern. "We'd get so sick in the next few days."

"They have candy, lots of it so you'll still have that." Albert pointed out.

"Sugar coma." Macy said solemnly. Pet shook her head, heading their group down to the Great Hall.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Well here's this! It doesn't feel like it's that long but my document is telling me it's like seven thousand words. Happy holidays if you're celebrating!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disc.** \- If you've not been reading these disclaimer notes and are in fact, laboring under the illusion I own Harry Potter, allow me to shatter that and say that I _do not_ own Harry Potter.

 **This Story…** \- A tiny bit of a time skip, since nothing too exciting happens. Just to the winter holidays for now though expect larger leaps a little bit later so we can get into the thick of things. I won't be having a whole lot of the family life written, not unless it directly affects things a bit more or I want to get something across since Pet is, naturally, so caught up in this new fantastic magical world. Also, some of Vi's temper is sparked and there's more time passed because honestly, they're eleven. However engaging their world might be, I imagine there are a lot of casual eleven year-old things they do in the meantime.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"Pet," came the whisper. Pet rolled, mumbling. "Pet, wake up. We're going home today." And the blonde peeked open an eye. Her sister loomed over her with her pale green eyes. They were pale but the color was intense and more than once it'd been called creepy or strange. Pet thought it was pretty personally. But aside from that, Pet was normally the one awake before Vi, as the black-haired girl really wasn't a morning person. But she'd been antsy with the break coming up so she probably missed mum and dad. Pet could understand that too, since she missed them when she wasn't too distracted by work and their new friends and classes, whenever they popped into her head she'd ache a little. But homesickness was normal, everyone else here was like that too.

"What time is it?" Pet rasped.

"The others aren't awake yet," she tempted instead of answering, "We'll have the showers to ourselves for a little while. A nice long shower before we go back." And that was enough to get Pet up and going. They had to preserve heat at home in the winter, so their showers were usually short and to the point.

They didn't talk about it much but Pet knew their family was poor. Oh, their parents did the best by them but they didn't have much, even with both of them working at least two jobs most of the time. She sighed, shaking the thoughts away. It wasn't as bad as it could be at any rate.

xXx

Snape didn't want to go home but had apparently promised Lily so they could play together at the park at some point. This didn't much concern Pet, except that they had to sit with them. They'd have sat with Diane, Macy and Marlene but Lily had caught them with a bright smile and the three other Ravenclaws were quick to escape from Pet's scowl.

Traitors. Vi smiled at her in secret humor and she huffed, calming down a little bit but still. She hoped this wouldn't become a trend at any rate. The train ride home, or rather to the platform where parents would be waiting, was thankfully much simpler. Considering that Pet may have been woken much too early and dropped off not long after it began. Later she would wonder if Vi did that on purpose but for the moment she was just happy she didn't have to deal with Lily or Snape. At least until she was being shaken awake and she grunted, a small "Huh?" slurring out as she moved to automatically wipe the bit of drool from the corner of her mouth. It was a good sleep, the one she'd had.

"We're almost to the station, Pet." Vi answered her, one arm occupied with Cleo and the other reached towards her. Pet stared at her for a moment before her mental facilities booted up and she nodded, sitting straight and brushing down her robes. Across from them, evidently bored to sleep without Pet to talk to and considering Vi's recent turn back to near-silence, were that airhead and Snape, leaning against one another. She was sure mum would coo over the sight and her lips curled up in disgust for it. Vi followed her gaze and cocked her head to the side. "They've been like that for the last two hours."

"Of course they have," the blonde muttered under her breath, sitting up. "Shall we change before waking them?" she asked and Vi cocked her head, another small smile.

"And leave them scrambling when we get to the station?" her eyes sparked in amusement. Not quite vicious but still amused at their (admittedly minor) bullying. Not that it was really bullying, it wasn't like Pet or Vi were obliged to wake them and they could have just as easily set some sort of alarm or asked Vi to wake them. Vi would have, if asked. "Let's go then."

And they grabbed their smaller bags, filled with a muggle outfit for them to change into. They could have just worn them under their robe on the way home but the morning was hectic and Pet rather liked being in the nice and neat school uniform. That, and it had become habit to put it on. But she wouldn't admit that.

So into their normal muggle wear. Their jumpers were a little worn and too big for them, Vi's slipping off her shoulder to reveal the thin black turtleneck she wore under but she looked cute, Pet thought proudly. Thick leggings under their denim jeans kept their legs warm, even if they had spent a good chunk of time putting warming spells on them. She ruffled her sister's hair fondly. Her hair had always been quick to grow and was even now, at her chin already, even if it was a riot of curls. She typically wore a headband of Pet's, the current being a shiny plastic one in bright magenta. And to think it was sheared so short a scant few months ago. Vi smiled at the affectionate gesture in pleasure. She was much like her cat in that sense- enjoying cuddles and warm, lazy shows of affection. She was actually very cat-like, now that Pet had regular interaction with felines.

"They're still sleeping." Pet scoffed when they got back to their compartment.

"We still have a good hour. Do you think we should find the girls and tell them goodbye one more time?"

"Let's look for the trolley instead. They promised they'd write and we'd already had our hugs and goodbyes."

"I suppose." and just like that, they were out and away, hounding after sugary sweets and getting a veritable mountain of them. They had both decided to save at least three of everything for their parents to try. Besides, Vi had told her earlier that she would be able to owl-order more later. She was sure Magnus would enjoy the trips- he seemed to especially like the snow and cold weather.

Where she go the catalogs Pet had seen her with, she had no clue but she wasn't going to complain.

As soon as they were back in the compartment, they stuffed their candy-full travel bags, the ones that held their school uniforms and robes as well as the candy in their trunks. Pet slammed hers shut, keen eyes on the two opposite her and Vi. She felt a smug glee when they jumped and startled, Lily knocking her forehead on Snape's chin and making him bite his tongue hard. She snickered, turning away and making sure Magnus's empty cage was properly attached to her trunk. They had shrunk their nicer trunks, the ones Vi had taken, so as not to rouse suspicion and hid them in the secondhand ones they had gotten beforehand. Pet was a little disdainful of these beat up ones but no need to make their parents feel bad if they saw that Pet and Vi had nicer, more expensive trunks. They did their best by them, and loved them dearly. That's all Pet really needed from them.

Even if they _did_ favor Lily.

xXx

She was squished in a tight hug, then switched over to her dad while their mum clamped strong arms around Vi. Lily and Snape were still in the process of getting their things together and in order when the other two Evans girls rushed from the train. Mrs. Snape was stood nearby, waiting anxiously and with her eyes occasionally darting to a few others and flinching. Pet eyed this calculatingly. A Pureblood marrying a muggle and living in squalor. She was certainly disowned from her line and no doubt, Pet thought critically, seen negatively for her choices. And it was no secret that her marriage wasn't a happy one. Vi had told her things about that family and just looking at Snape was enough to show it wasn't an ideal match between his parents. Of course, the bruises Pet deftly saw and the woman clearly tried to hide were also fairly damning. But, it wasn't as though the woman didn't give as good as she got. Screaming matches needed two after all, broken things not just from Snape's father but her as well. And she certainly wasn't mother of the year, spending half her time apparently fighting with Snape's father and snidely undermining him. In fact, Vi had told her before that Snape confided that his mother had put his father in the hospital before with how vicious she could physically be, without magic. His father put bruises on her but she sent him to the hospital.

Pet was at once pleased that this woman would retaliate but incredibly disdainful that she still remained with said man when very clearly, they were not good for one another. Vi had hushed her, asking her where the woman would go and what she would do, especially if she was, as they strongly suspected, disowned from her family. She had no muggle working skills that would let her get a job there and even if she was able to get a job in the magical world, it surely wouldn't be enough to find a place and raise Snape, even if he was at Hogwarts most of the year and on the Hogwarts tuition funds.

Pet wasn't sure, but had been adamant that she could have started, done something. She was a witch! Vi had shrugged but smiled and Pet knew that to a degree Vi agreed with her.

"My pretty girls!" dad sighed happily, grabbing them both and squeezing them until Vi let out a small squeak noise. He grinned, pleased with himself as he set them down. "How was it? Did you have fun?"

"Of course we did da'!" Pet huffed but couldn't resist the way the smile practically split her face in two. "And we got you candy! Magical candy." she added proudly.

"Magical candy?" their mum asked and Mrs. Snape made a noise.

"Ah…Things like chocolate frogs that jump around, licorice wands, ice mice, Bertie Bott beans, sugar quills…" she sighed nostalgically.

"Would you like some?" Vi asked politely. "We did bring quite a lot."

"Oh- well I…" she blinked, embarrassed but Vi was already pulling her bag free, opening it to reveal the large stash of candy. They had gone a little overboard but the trolley woman had chortled when they had said they needed to get their parents to try everything and had encouraged them. "That's quite a lot! But I'd hate to impose, and it is your candy."

"We've been eating candy all year, Mrs. Snape." Pet said with a charming smile and the woman gave a hesitant smile back. She looked like she didn't smile very often.

So it was to the hilarious scene of their parents eating and marveling over magical candy and Mrs. Snape hiding soft little laughs that their Gryffindor sister and her puppy arrived to, just as Pet was telling their fascinated father "And Vi has so many cards already, I think she's starting a collection. She keeps them neat and orderly and trades with some of our Housemates at any rate."

"Card collections I can get behind." he grinned, ruffling Vi's hair playfully. She butted up into it with another pleased smile.

"Mum! Dad!" Lily's voice made Pet grit her teeth a little, her smile becoming more forced as their parents eyes brightened and they took to Lily. Pet clenched her hands while they fawned over her and Vi was quick to step closer to her, offering her a sugared butterfly wing. Pet smiled a little more genuinely while Lily trapped their parents' attention away. Her eyes glanced around and she saw Mrs. Snape watching her and Vi closely and she quickly mustered up her usual smile, forcibly relaxing herself, turning to her sister a bit more to avoid the woman's piercing black stare.

Pet cursed herself for showing her weakness in such an open spot. But soon enough they were parting way for the moment, travelling to their cars.

xXx

They invited the Snapes over for dinner after the actual holiday. It was really a surprise that they did come, all three of them.

"My husband, Tobias." Mrs. Snape introduced with a strained smile. Their own parents smiled, trying to be as welcoming and friendly as possible. Pet could see more of Snape (the boy) from his father- his nose was hooked as well and his face the same structure if she really looked. Pet always had been good with facial recognition.

"Hello, Mr. Snape." their dad greeted cheerfully, holding out a hand for the stoic looking man to take. "Harry Evans! And my wife here, Marigold and our wonderful ladies. The oldest Petunia, middle Lily and the baby, Violet." he introduced his family proudly. The man's glances were dismissive at best, derisive at worst as he gave their dad's hand a solid shake. Pet silently questioned why they were invited over. Perhaps Snape and his mum if she were feeling particularly generous _(she wasn't)_ but why did his dad have to come? "Come in, come in! No need to stay out in the cold."

And they were all cramming together to the small dining room. The table and chairs were, Pet remembered well, from their great-grandmum who'd died before they got to meet her. It was long and kept meticulously cleaned and polished and fit them and their guests comfortable enough.

"Hot pot and corned beef," their mum smiled as they took off heavy coats. Snape looked marginally more put together in his school sweater and trousers and his hair was pushed behind his ears. Young Snape, that was. His father wore plain dark clothes and so did his mother. "And of course, pudding for dessert."

xXx

Pet huffed the next day, taking care of their garden. To say dinner turned out to be incredibly awkward was a massive understatement. It had been very clear by the tense, hostile looks between Snape's parents that Mr. Snape _did not_ like magic. Conversation was stilted because of it, since there was not much else that they could safely talk about in front of the children- or that their own mum and dad would talk about in front of children at any rate, who knew what Snape had to listen to when alone with them.

For a few moments, she felt something like pity for Snape. Then she remembered that he was Snape, Lily's follower and more recently, Vi's shadow at school during classes and those feelings were easily dashed.

"Should we name the Alraune?" her sister called in question and Pet glanced back at her. Their alraune had gotten much larger, and with all the charms and potions and who knows what else Vi had used, was thriving despite the frozen ground.

"What should we name it?" Pet called back, getting up to trot over and crouch before it. It wasn't that large yet but Vi said that she should be to their knees by the time the school year ended. They were slower than normal flowers growing- she'd said some can live as long as trees and some trees, Pet learned, can live for thousands of years. Honestly though Pet would feel a little bad about leaving it behind it that were the case with this one.

Vi had assured her and she had read that they weren't quite as cognizant as creatures or beings, but they were affectionate creatures that can get vaguely attached to their caretaker. In this case, it would probably be fonder of Vi of course but still. But, she thought with a wary eye on the thing clutching lovingly at her sister's fingers, she'd also read something else about Alraune. And Vi herself, if she thinks back on it, said something about it she was sure. Alraune, when large enough, could be vicious and even killers. Violent, ruthless like a child with an ant hill and a magnifying glass. Killing for either protection of territory, caretaker if fused with a more mobile magical plant, or more commonly sport. Vi had not told her what plant she had fused the Alraune with, eyes sparkling in the mischief of a juicy secret.

In the end, the two had managed to named it Fifi.

They spent the day there, practicing more spells and brewing more carefully and making sure any assigned work was done with the appropriate aplomb any Ravenclaw should have.

When they went home, they were greeted with warm smiles and biscuits.

xXx

The holiday felt like it dragged on pleasantly forever, but it seemed like barely any time passed when they woke on the day they were to go back. Pet sighed, sitting up and rubbing at her face tiredly. She turned her bleary eyes to her younger sister, asleep beside her. They had shared a bed since they had left their cots mum and dad were fond of telling them. Lily was a fussy sleeper, kicking and rolling in her sleep and had been given her own secondhand bed after knocking one of her sisters off the beds a few too many times. By comparison, Pet slept on her back and stayed in the serene position through her sleep and Violet tended to use the fetal position, coiled and curled in a small ball next to her. Cleo had managed, as she always did, to wriggle her way into the middle of the circle Vi made with her body, cocooning the cat in heat and flesh. Rolo was sprawled at Vi's back, pleased with the warmth she was emitting, dozing and giving disjointed purrs here and there. Part of her wondered if he did that for Snape then she made a face because she didn't like thinking about something that slept next to Snape sleeping next to her baby sister.

She slipped from the bed tiredly, almost stumbling in the dark dimness of the room to make her way to the loo for her usual morning rituals. Vi would be grumpily awake by the time she returned and would take her own turn. Then they would go downstairs where Vi would begin breakfast since she was up before mum or dad. She would wake up a bit more in the process so that by the time their parents came down she would be fully alert and functional. Well, even half asleep, Vi was deft and alert in a way. Like an animal would be, Pet thought, conscious of the world around but also half entrenched in sleep.

Twenty minutes later had both cats in the house meowing plaintively, begging for the food Vi was cooking. Pet sighed to herself, chin in hand. This was what she got for always giving them scraps- and she had edged Snape into doing the same when he had Rolo. They had a few hours before they would cram into the car to get to the station and Pet yawned once more. Regardless of how much of a morning person she was and how well she transitioned from asleep to awake, it was still pretty early, having set a small charm to wake her up earlier than normal given the schedule they'd have.

It was nice eating Vi's food again, even if there wasn't as much food as Hogwarts. If she had to say which was better, she would always say Vi's because there was something more to it, knowing and seeing her little sister prepare food for them. It always made Pet smile. The quiet lassitude of the morning was interrupted, though not unpleasantly, when first their dad slipped down the stairs with a hearty yawn as he made his way to the kitchen and smell of food.

xXx

"Love you," Vi said, ensconced in their parents' embrace and they held her all the tighter. Vi had always been quiet and words like that were precious. "We'll get you more candy." she promised. Lily was bouncing in place, one hand holding Snape's. His mum couldn't be there, so he had come with them instead and she hoped fervently that it wouldn't become a habit. Lily had been, of course, delighted.

With a few last hugs and misty eyes, they were being sent onto the familiar train and Pet felt a sort of soothing relief at going back, back into the magical world with all if it's fantastical mysteries and miracles. She grinned at Vi brightly. She could practically feel the antsy buzz of her littlest sister as she rushed to find a compartment to claim as their own, leaving Lily and Snape behind as quickly as was polite in front of their parents. She threw herself into the seat of the compartment they weaseled out with a sigh, opening Magnus's cage and slipping the window open as well. He hooted imperiously, nipping she liked to think fondly at her fingers before taking off, a huge dark presence as he shrieked, startling those lingering on the platform before making his way to Hogwarts and the owlery. Personally Pet had been disgusted by the dirty nasty barn-like owlery. They were magic! Surely there was a neater, better smelling option? Nevertheless, Magnus typically stayed in their dorm on a huge heavy brass perch when he wasn't hunting or securing the area fussily.

Their door slid open suddenly and a face peered in before it scrunched up a little. Pet narrowed her gaze.

"Oh, it's you." the boy scoffed before turning to his posse of friends. "Not this one, it has Evans's sisters in it."

Bristling, Pet made to stand but a movement by Violet beside her stayed her hand as Violet crossed her legs, scratching at Cleo's ears with a dismissive air.

"Lily's sisters?" he was pushed back as the boy wearing the spectacles looked in at them with all the fascination a child might have with a strange new bug. "Ravenclaws right?"

"Just like her little parasite." the first boy scoffed. Well, it's not like Pet thought any higher of Snape but she knew him much more than this sniveling prick and she narrowed her gaze, her wand slipping from the holster under the sleeve of her jumper but just hidden yet. "What are you wearing?" he asked suddenly and for a moment, she was confused at the sudden change in topic. "It's muggle clothes isn't it?"

"If you're just going to stand there, go away." Vi said with a surprisingly steely glint in her eyes and Pet cringed. It wasn't often those sorts of adult-like looks were directed at a person rather than something Pet couldn't see and from the corner of her eye, she saw the way Black seemed to flinch back as well at the look before he garnered a false sense of courage and balked at her sister's warning. He shoved himself into their compartment, throwing himself across from them and this time Pet stared at him, furious at the arrogance. His other friends followed after him curiously, cramming themselves in with them. But no way, absolutely no way was Pet going to let go of this compartment! She narrowed her eyes.

"Where are your trunks?"

"Our parents shrunk them." the one with the scar on his face answered quietly, looking at them both with curiously cautious eyes. Pet scowled at the reminder that they had grown up with magic before stifling it. She loved her parents and it wasn't like they had known they were magic before that day. Well, not for certain or anything. Besides, it wasn't as if she herself couldn't do magic whenever she wanted to at home, Vi had made sure of that. "Did you have a good holiday?" he asked with polite interest and Pet scowled, crossing her arms.

"Yes. We were have a _reasonably_ good day as well, before your lot showed up. What do you want anyways, weren't you looking for something?"

"We were looking for a compartment," Black spoke up, "And we found one." the pleased and very clearly spiteful look on his face made Pet's eyes widen before narrowing her grip on her pretty and well maintained wand tightening.

"Why, you no good dirty _toe-rag!"_ she barked. Toe-rag was something their mum very, very rarely called people but it was the sort of worst insult that didn't involve swearing in their household. But dammit, he deserved it! What a cocky, arrogant little tosser!

She fumed, thinking of all the nasty, terrible words she'd ever learned (mostly from Mrs. Wyvern; she could be crotchety with strangers or those people who came door to door trying to sell things when she was busy teaching them). On that note, she resolved to send the woman some of those sugared butterfly wings. A dainty woman like her would just love them. For now though she focused her attentions on haughty Black.

"Did you just…Did you just call me a _toe-rag?"_ he boggled and she puffed herself up with a glare.

"Well it is what you are," she answered nastily. Potter laughed nervously, glancing between the two quickly before shooting pleading looks to the other two boys with them. For a moment, she wondered if they ditched Longbottom and she remembered the boy sitting in the corridor because they'd locked him out and it only fueled her ire.

"Pet," Vi murmured, setting a hand over the one Pet still had clutching her wand. She wouldn't be surprised if her dutiful wand was shooting angry sparks at this point.

"He's a berk," she hissed to her sister, entirely uncaring that he could hear her. No, vindictively pleased he could she decided after a moment of watching him glare at her for the insults.

"Well at least I'm not some bossy snot-nosed mudblo-" he began in a snarl but before he could finish that sentence his mouth was forcibly clamped shut. Pet became aware suddenly, of the way Vi was sitting and the wand in her own hand, practically crackling with energy. She didn't dare look at her sister, not when her face was apparently enough to have the boys cowering back.

"Don't. _Ever_. Say that word." her voice was different. She'd heard her speak like that once before, only once and at a distance at that. A wave of fear chilled her at the way it sounded like a promise, a threat and something that made Pet want to hide. Black had shoved himself as far back into the compartment's seating as possible, his wide eyes trained on Vi. It was tense and Pet felt like if she even breathed that focus, that intent would target her.

It wasn't often that Pet was afraid. But she had never been frightened of Violet before, no matter the strange things she knew, she said, despite the things she could do. There was a clamor outside and the door slid open, Lily's bright face peeping in with a grin. Just like that, it was like the spell (pardon) was broken and it was just them sitting there, all squished back in their own seats and silent. Vi's wand had been slipped back into her holster the moment she realized someone was going to open their door and her face was, when Pet dared a glance, neutral and calm and soft as it ever was. She wondered for a moment what that precious familiar face had turned into to frighten the boys in their compartment as badly. But maybe that was the heavy feel of something, something heavy and swirling, anticipatory and wild pressing down on them and crushing their lungs, it was-

"Tuney, Lettie!" Lily cheered before she seemed to notice the other Gryffindors. Her eyes narrowed but Pet couldn't help but feel like Lily looked especially immature right then, after they had been subjected to. "What are you all doing here?" she demanded, apparently not noticing what she walked in on. Snape, Pet recognized vaguely, seemed more suspicious of the scene, eyes darting around at them, flicking to Violet's calm, relaxed profile then to the tense set of the others.

"They were just leaving." Vi said softly, so softly. It was- Lupin, she thought the name was, the one with the werewolf rights family that tugged on one of the other boy's wrists and slowly, they left the compartment, heads down and looking drawn. Vi's eerily cool eyes watched them the entire time. Lily huffed, stomping in and flopping herself down, her trunk dragged in but for the moment, not going on the racks.

"He's such an annoying brat, Potter! I bet he came in here thinking he could take this compartment!" Lily ranted. Snape was had more self-preservation evidently and kept quiet, observing his fellow 'Claws.

"It was Black actually." Pet found herself saying coldly. Then, just like that, her anger was reignited and any fear or doubts she had about Vi flew away. "He was going to call me- he was actually going to call me a- a-" she sputtered and now she knew why Vi had stopped him so ruthlessly. Vi set a hand on top of Pet's clammy own and the blonde clutched it as an anchor for the flurry of emotion. Her eyes burned in fury and insult.

The trip was spent in seething silence and Vi's soothing disjointed hums.

xXx

"Pet."

"Yes Vi?"

"Let's explore." she whispered. Pet blinked, rubbing at her eyes before nodding and sitting up.

This began nightly explorations of the huge citadel, giggles and scurrying about and drinking pepper ups and other potions (they had to vary it or the consequences of extended use would eventually make them faint). It wasn't like they did it every night- busy school days consisted of studying, studying and practical theory in a classroom she, Vi, Diane Macy and Marlene had staked as their own. Since those were during free periods, they didn't have to worry about Snape finding it.

More interesting, as the year slowly began to head to a close, Vi had gotten House Elves (and what strange creatures they were!) to bring in some abandoned furniture from the castle into their room to make it more homely and comfortable. When questioned, Vi had shrugged and said that there wasn't any rules against it and this led to an explosion of curiosity and wondering what all they were indeed allowed to do in Hogwarts. She was mostly unbothered by Lily who was becoming too busy with her own friends and those horrid boys- especially that toe-rag- left them alone. Pet was content with it at least. Frog Choir was fun and they made more friends through it, even if Vi kind of shied away.

But speaking of Vi, she did something to nasty Charlotte Vaisey. Pet didn't know what, but it made the girl shut her fat mouth around them. If they weren't around, she reverted back, but not when she knew Vi was around.

xXx

Lounging with Vi and Cleo in their room and getting her somewhat short hair played with, Pet smiled.

"We could go to the Lake." Marlene suggested with a grin and Pet thought about it before shaking her head.

"Those Gryffindors are probably hogging it."

"Probably." Macy agreed with a huff. "Well what else can we do?"

"Practice again?"

"No, I want to do something easy. And lazy." Marlene whined, twisting around on the plush rug.

"You're an inspiration to us all, Dearborn." Diane laughed and Marlene grinned at the other girl. "Your sloth is truly amazing. How did you get into Ravenclaw?"

"The Hat slapped me here with you losers." she sighed and sniggered when she was lightly kicked in retribution by Macy.

"We could always do the Fiendishly Difficult Word Search." Diane told them, waving her copy of The Daily Prophet. Vi hadn't seemed to like the paper but it usually held some interesting things.

"I _do_ love things that are fiendishly difficult."

Twenty minutes later had a huge dictionary out and the girls were around the table, muttering together to try and find the answers. Ravenclaw bonding at its finest.

xXx

Pet's foot was tapping and her eyes were narrowed but Snape didn't even seem to notice. Lately he'd been grabbing Vi as his partner in class when they had need of a partner and sitting next to her. It was really starting to grate.

Not that it hadn't before but still. It was only getting worse now. It was close to the end of the school year so why this was just happening now, she had no idea- Snape had made tentative friends with Wildsmith and Powell and at least familiar acquaintances with the MacDougals and Davies, since those boys were part of Pet and Vi's circle. Well, Pet wouldn't doubt it the boy did it to spite her she thought bitterly.

So now, at the end of Charms, she was waiting for Vi to come so they could leave together but Snape was waylaying her.

"Someone's in a foul mood." one of the Slytherin boys they shared this class with sniggered and she sent him a dark look, turning and stalking towards her sister and that annoying prat. As she got closer, she heard snippets of murmurs and they were slow to finish setting everything in their bags.

"Violet." she said as she stopped behind them and both looked back at her. Pet was struck with a sudden feeling of being an intruder but she stubbornly shook it off. "It's free period."

"Right. See you later." she nodded, turning to Snape and then slinging her bag on her shoulder. "Will we go to our usual?"

"Do you even need to ask?"

Once they were out of the throng of students, Pet turned to her sister.

"You've been spending a lot of time with Snape, Vi." she wished she didn't sound accusing to her own ears. Vi looked at her curiously. "In classes. He's always sitting beside you and you two talk all the time."

"It's only in classes Vi. And because if we partner, I can give him a better grade than Powell or Wildsmith." she answered amusedly, quirking a smile in her direction. The explanation didn't settle her, not really but she smiled. "Besides, even if he takes me for class, you know he'll never give up Lily in free time."

"I guess so." Pet sighed. "But I swear, if he's just substituting you for her…"

"He partners with her when we have class with Gryffindor, certainly not with me. Don't worry Pet." she continued to soothe and Pet nodded. Well, it wasn't like Vi couldn't take care of herself anyways. She sniffed dismissively. She didn't know what she was getting so worked up for anyways, it was just Snape. Useless, Lily's follower Snape. Still, she held hands with her sister towards the usual room and pointedly sat between her sister and Snape at mealtimes.

xXx

"We're already going home." Macy sighed. "I'm going to miss this bed. And that desk there. And this carpet and…"

"Oh quiet down Twiddle, it'll only be about three months and then we'll be back." Marlene rolled her eyes at the dramatics of the girl and Diane and Pet sniggered that it was _Marlene_ chastising _anyone_ for being dramatic. "And we'll actually have separate dorms from certain people…" she muttered under her breath. The girls shared a look at that. It was true, next year there would be two rooms, six girls to each instead of the one large room that they all shared.

"All the better for it." Pet sighed. "And I'm sure we'll be together."

"What if it goes alphabetically?"

"What? You've read the plaques from the other rooms, you should know by now it isn't!"

"But what if they change it this coming year?" Macy frowned, twirling a brown lock. Pet stared at her incredulously, hearing Vi and Diane's muffled giggles behind her.

"Why on earth would they do that?"

"To make us suffer, clearly." Veronica Brocklehurst threw in cheekily, giggling at the dark look Macy sent her.

"But they would!" she moaned. "They really would!"

"Stop being so self-important Twiddle!" Irene Rackharrow shouted from across the room, "You're giving me a headache!"

"Well I hope I don't have to room with her…" the Halfblood muttered.

"If you weren't such a crier about it she'd be fine." Marlene waved off flippantly. "Right, Rackharrow!?"

"Shut! It!" a pillow was sent whizzing and hit Marlene full in the face. Laughter spilled in the room and Marlene grinned cheerfully. She was something like Irene's second cousin or whatever and her antics to annoy the other girl often spelled a good show for anyone watching. Rackharrow wasn't bad though, Pet reflected. She played along, even if it was a tad grumpily. She never actually seemed angry though.

But Macy was right about missing Hogwarts in the meantime. She turned to Vi, playing with Cleo with one of her quills. But, she and Vi could busy themselves in the meantime for sure. So she got dressed properly, this time wearing one of her lighter dresses and just putting on a robe over it. Vi had on a pale yellow dress under hers, she knew and she was back in dance flats. There wasn't, as it turned out, a dance class in Hogwarts. It didn't stop Vi and Pet from practicing at least once a week stubbornly.

Mrs. Wyvern was pleased with that at least. She hadn't seen the woman, well _they_ hadn't seen the woman since the previous summer so hopefully they would be seeing her soon.

"Think of it, when we come back next year, it will be on the carriages and we get to watch the nervous first years get sorted!"

And of course, there was always that to look forward to. Good lord, she realized, they were already at the end of their first year! Really, now it just felt like it had sped along without them. Pet breathed in, then out before grinning at Vi. She gave a crooked grin back and Pet was ready for the holiday- to spend their days practicing their magic freely, learning new things from their books and brewing. Pet had gotten better with it, even if it certainly wasn't her first choice.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

I…Feel like this dragged on a little? I just really want to jump into a higher year I think so this might seem a little disjointed because of it. Still, I hope it's enjoyable!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disc.** \- I still don't own Harry Potter? It's not even a question, of course I don't own Harry Potter!

 **This Story…** \- When I begin describing clothes and accessories and whatever, I want you to remember it's the early seventies and also that they're young teenage girls so yes, their clothes and appearances are going to be described sometimes. Some of the excerpts are pretty short and vague, just to let you know now. Also, when I wrote midi-skirts I meant _midi-skirts_ , not miniskirts. Shorter than maxi skirts and longer than midi-skirts.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Mrs. Wyvern passed away in the middle of July. Pet and especially Vi were inconsolable and Vi's birthday at the end of July was subdued. Snape came over more often and tried to make a point of doing summer assignments together or something and Pet hated that he was trying to intrude. But they threw themselves into their garden, secreting away for the most of August and studying furiously. Pet and Vi were inseparable for second year, Pet more vicious and snappish and Vi more distant.

xXx

"Tuney! Lettie!" Lily's call made Pet grit her teeth and almost break her pen between neatly manicured fingers. The fourteen year old breathed in and out and started counting backward from one hundred. This was the _twelfth_ time today that Lily was interrupting them. They'd only just gotten home two hours ago! What could she _possibly_ need now?! Thankfully, Vi was more than able to handle it, lest Pet hex her sister painfully and reveal they could do magic outside of school. After Lily had gotten a letter from the Ministry- the Ministry!- about underage magic, their parents and Lily had been very careful and very respectful of the rule.

"Lily, Pet and I are doing our schoolwork." she said patiently. _For the eleventh time today_. Pet had warned her off once and Vi had since taken over because Pet was not in the mood to deal with that great big twit.

"Still? C'mon, why don't we go have some fun for once! Dad's planning a trip to the beach and we'll need new swimming cozzies!" she said brightly. Since Second Year, Lily was repelled even more from her sisters, Pet a little less patient with her leaving Vi to work as diplomatic ambassador between them. "You have all break to do your schoolwork!"

Pet was at forty-three and cursed in her head, having to start over again.

"Please? I won't leave you alone until you do!"

"Pet." Vi murmured and Pet sucked her teeth to avoid biting through her lip, careful not to grit or grind her teeth. Then she calmly set her pen down (she was only writing out outlines and the like, quills were only needed for writing the assignment itself) and slipped off the glasses her parents had surprised her with. Well, they surprised her with an eye exam to get the glasses. Vi got it too, but her glasses were rectangular pince-nez type things she got from somewhere in Diagon. She didn't get the style but Vi had been insistent on it and lord knew the wizarding folk were strange.

She pressed against her temples gently. "I. Do not. Want to deal with her."

"We don't even really need to shop with her. Besides, how are we supposed to finally swim in Black Lake this coming year if we don't have swimming costumes?" she coaxed and Pet leaned back, staring at the ceiling. They'd charmed it delicately to show roiling storm clouds as long as it was just her and Vi in the room. Lily was talking through the door to them. Pet sighed, aquamarine painted nails tapping on the battered desk in their room before standing. "We'll be ready in fifteen." she heard Vi tell their sister. Pet slipped back her hair neatly behind her ears before changing from her comfortable house robe into a neat white dress and pulled on sandals with an inclined heel before wandering to their ever-growing collection of accessories. There was a darling pair of earring that matched her nails and she scooped them up, switching the ones she wore, then slipped on a thin clingy cardigan over it. When she glanced at her sister, she already wore huge gold hoop earrings and an interesting bluish purple stone on a leather strip, having donned a pair of hot pants in maroon that matched her nails and a thin cropped gypsy top, pulling on her own sandals. They certainly didn't have designer names but they wore what every teenaged girl wore and that was enough for Pet at the moment, and they did the popular exercises the beautiful women on the telly did with their mum sometimes. And of course, they still danced.

Dad, Pet knew, was planning on getting a color telly and she knew he wanted it to be a surprise for when they came back for winter hols, as far away as it seemed now. She checked her socked toes and rolled her eyes when she thought of their parents still wearing winklepickers. At least they were wearing flares now she supposed, keeping with the times as she glanced at a few of the magazines on their shared dresser. She took Vi's arm in her own, checking her perfectly curly hair in the high ponytail briefly in the mirror and making sure her eyeliner was on alright. Vi always knew how to make the perfect wing with hers but Pet tended to have a bit of slight difference.

"It's wonderful, Pet, come on." Vi smiled at her, lips colored with gloss to bring out the deep peachy-red color. Pet smiled back; her own lips glossed to show off light pink. When their mum had introduced them to some make up after Mrs. Wyvern in an attempt to cheer them even a little bit, Pet had felt enamored. They weren't allowed to use much yet, but eyeliner and lip glosses were approved at least.

Lily didn't pay as much attention to clothes but had taken to midi-skirts especially. The redhead grinned at them brightly, nails plain and a bit bitten, without makeup and with her long red hair down. Some girls, Pet had found recently, dressed like that. Long hair, long skirts, plain faced. It was incredibly boring of them Pet thought. Pet herself wanted to look like Jean Shrimpton and the thought of being so dull when makeup could be so much fun simply didn't sit well with her. When they left the house, Pet's nose crinkled a little bit to see Snape leaning against the house in his usual mismatch of clothes. He'd gotten a little better trying to coordinate it at any rate. His eyes flickered to them, taking the three in before he ducked his head and offered mumbled greetings, hands folded behind his back.

He'd been insufferable all of Third year, either following around Lily or Violet- more often Violet because Potter had been following Lily too and often pulled apparently appalling tricks and 'pranks' on the Ravenclaw alongside the rest of his merry band. Pet sniffed, tipping her nose up. "Hello Severus." Vi offered to the boy and he glanced at her quickly again before once more dropping his gaze.

"Sev will come with us to the beach!" Lily cheered with a vibrant smile and Pet once more felt her nose crinkle. "So naturally, he needs a cozzie too."

"Shopping with the girls now?" Pet asked snidely and the boy winced, shrinking on himself. Not that he could much, given that he was already so tall. Tall and lanky limbed, awkwardly into the adolescent phase. "Whatever shall happen next? Will you be piercing your ears as well?"

"Don't mind her, Severus. We were interrupted doing our schoolwork." she heard Vi tell the boy soothingly as Lily frowned at Pet in disapproval. Pet scoffed, pulling Vi along by the hand nestled in the crook of her elbow, leading them off.

It didn't take long for dad to take them off to the row of stores and the like, busy and teeming with people. Pet smiled, pleased. They could ditch Lily and Snape.

"I'll be back within an hour and a half, remember." he warned them cheerfully, giving a bit of money to his girls and making the Snape boy (practically adopted into the family these days) accept some. He'd tried to refuse but their dad had been insistent and then they were left alone.

"Tuney, you simply must come into this shop, the last time I was here I saw something you would just love!" Lily suddenly ripped her away from Vi and startled, Pet let herself be dragged away in absolute shock. In the throng of people they very quickly lost sight of both Vi and Snape and Pet felt a gush of air escape her. It'd been some time since she was last without Vi beside her in the summer and she blinked for a few moments, unsure where to look before she remembered she was still being directed into a shop. She turned a dark scowl on her redheaded sister but Lily seemed entirely oblivious to it, the awful chit.

"We've lost Vi!" she snapped and Lily blinked, glancing back at her with surprise. Then shrugged, careless as could be as she smiled again.

"She's a big girl, she'll find us sometime! Besides she has Sev with her, she'll be fine!"

Pet didn't bother saying that that no-good little bastard wouldn't be able to save a mouse, let alone Vi. But Vi was strong and Vi knew a lot more than she let on so she tried to soothe her rankled senses. So as not to blow up at Lily, she turned towards the wares in the dinky little shop.

And promptly wished she didn't. What even were these misshapen trinkets? Vi would probably like them though, she reasoned and her lip curled up as she grabbed what looked like an interestingly colored rock before freezing with her hand on it. It had…It had responded to her.

This rock responded to her like her wand had! Hidden in a sewn in pocket of her dress (she couldn't just wear her holster) her wand buzzed back as though the two were conversing. Pet blinked lethargically, her magic swaying from one to the other in interest and she hadn't even noticed how tightly she clutched the little rock.

"Like that one, d'ye lass?" an older woman cackled and Pet was brought back sharply as she eyed her. To be entirely honest, she looked like a hag or crone. She didn't just mean the muggle insults, she meant the magical kind. The kind that tended to eat children. Intelligent dark eyes sparked back at her and she grinned showing off craggy teeth, a few missing here and there. "We don't like the magical types," she whispered in secret, "Too much fuss and too much fight. Leaves a robust thing like me bloated for weeks." and she winked. Pet was really and truly scowling now. Was this woman using this god awful little shop to lure in prey?

Then again, Pet couldn't really care too much about it. If she overdid it, the Ministry would take care of it so she simply sniffed, relaxing a bit.

"You wouldn't have any knuts on you would you child?" the hag- Pet was sure it was a hag and not a crone now that she was looking more closely- cocked its head to the side.

"I have a few." she did tend to keep some on her, if only because it reminded her that she wasn't a muggle, she was a witch with magic, who could brew potions in cauldrons and cast spells and hexes and jinxes.

"I'll give you that focus for three." she pointed a bony finger at the stone still held tightly in the blonde's hand and she glanced at it, then the woman suspiciously after the words caught up. A focus? She would ask Vi about it then, but since she was apparently selling it so cheap…

She left the hag's shop after that, making sure to remember the name and location so she could tell Vi. When she found her. Lily hopped along beside her, new beaded bracelets on her arms.

Finding Vi in all the people, as it turned out, wasn't too difficult. She was wearing a flower crown and sitting up high on a stone wall, Snape standing beside her nervously. The only reason she drew attention really was the small crowd of other teenagers around her. Pet frowned. Vi wasn't one to embroil herself in a group and hurriedly made her way through them.

"There you are Pet. What's that?" pale green eyes glanced to the stone on a string that she had put around her neck.

"Some hag," she began, ignoring Lily's admonishment. Twit didn't even realize it actually _was_ a hag. "Has a shop. Said it was a focus- it felt just like…" she glanced down at her dress meaningfully and Vi hummed before jumping down gracefully, sliding her arm through Snape's and pulling him towards them. He went like a weed bending in the wind, no resistance and resigned and Vi wondered where they had went. Vi didn't have that flower crown or that new bracelet when Pet had been abducted by Lily.

"Really? Mind taking us there?"

"Sure! I'm not sure if Sev would find much useful there though…" Lily grinned, turning to lead them back down the street. Pet watched as tiny Vi tugged looming Snape down to whisper in his ear. He flushed but an intent look, curious and open suffused his face before they were following. Pet's narrowed eyes stayed on their arms coiled together and she took Vi's free hand, tugging her and by extension Snape along.

The hag seemed to think that it was brilliant she brought others along with her, sweeping straight towards them.

"Good good, I can rid of some of these hunks. Useless they are, and they ward off the ones I want." she was quick to direct them back to the table Pet had picked her rock-focus whatever from. Vi would tell her more later. Snape recoiled in horror of the old woman and she supposed it was only because of being a Ravenclaw that he was able to distinguish that she was an actual child-eating hag. Making Lily seem like even more of a twit. Still, Vi pulled him with her and took her hand back to wave over the available rocks. They trembled, all of them on the table and Pet watched intently. Vi's magic, when she used it without her wand, was amazing.

And, Pet had learned, rare and _difficult_. Her sister simply shrugged it off and blamed it on her Seer tendencies and muttered about possible past lives. Pet, still, didn't think much on it because there was no reason to. If Vi wanted her to know, she would tell her and she was sure if she asked Vi would also tell her whatever she wanted to know. She heard Snape's gasp and Pet nodded to herself. Vi's magic when used like this was not quite tangible but it fell like a mist, creeping and cool, twining and pleasant. Teasing too, a little.

Pet's attention was quick to return when a glittering black hunk of shiny gem or crystal (she was sure it wasn't a rock) slapped and cut into Vi's hand. Dainty, deft fingers clutched around it and Vi looked at it curiously. "Volcanic glass." her sister said, cocking her head to the side. As though sensing the question (or, being a fellow Ravenclaw, knowing the two other eagles with her would ask) "It's formed from rapid solidification of lava, without crystallization. Pet's is fluorite." She added and Pet looked down to her own purplish sleek rock. Most of it was a drab purple color but if she tilted it about, she saw flashes of green.

"Lava? Really?" Snape asked, turning to look at the sharp looking piece of shiny black held in a tanned hand.

"It's your turn."

"I- how do I-" apparently this new thing was enough to make Snape forget most of his apparent embarrassment around them. She wondered if he was being teased for always hanging about girls and that was why he seemed so especially meek. She wouldn't doubt it; she mocked him often enough in the confines of her thoughts.

"Touch them. You'll know."

Snape's rock was ugly. Hideous even. Pet sniffed, turning her head away. It looked like metal, not even like a rock or gem or crystal or whatever.

"What…Is it?"

"Hematite. These are foci." She went on and Pet turned back to her sister.

"Foci?"

"Wands are foci, for example. In fact think of wands as something of…Training wheels or crutches. They help to focus and neatly order your magic into a small funnel. Using something to harness the skill without having to expend even more energy in trying to make sure you're not, say, just overflowing power. Wands are particularly useful for the 'detail' work, spells and curses and all the like. Foci like crystals or gems tend to use more intent than the mental focus of a wand and spells. Laying down protections over large areas or covering distances and the like, and any specific spells or enchantments would take a lot more concentration than just using a wand. These kinds of crystals also tend to be used for wards as anchors. Depending on the ward of course." she told them, fingers brushing over her shiny black bit and Pet saw what looked like static shocks as her sister subtly shaved off the more pointy looking ends to smooth it out slightly. She had coated her fingers with her own magic like a glove to do it and once more Pet was reminded how _amazing_ Vi was.

"Does magic really work like that?" Snape was frowning, his free hand (one arm still wrapped with Vi's Pet couldn't help but notice darkly) settling over a pant pocket that Pet was now sure held his wand. She wondered why he would carry it around if he couldn't even use it. Unlike, of course, Pet and Vi. "I thought…I thought we needed wands. Wandless magic is- next to impossible right?"

"Wrong. Very wrong. A good deal of people simply can't do it, regardless of how much they train and concentrate and try. It is an _extremely_ difficult thing to master however and because it could take years, sometimes decades, to even build one's magic to the point of not using a foci at all, most people would assume it was impossible or not worth it when they have wands anyways. It's been a dying art for centuries." Vi sighed. "It is possible. It's like taking accidental magic and making it intentional."

"But that _is_ impossible isn't it?" Snape said, expression exasperated and Pet felt offence that he would doubt Vi.

"Not with enough self control and training. Magic is a muscle, Severus. It needs to be used consistently or it will begin to atrophy."

"But that makes no sense! Accidental magic is from a lack of control over magic and stops once we start actually training!"

"In most cases, yes." Vi cocked her head to the side and Snape made a frustrated noise, glaring down at her now and Pet was more than prepared to see just how well these rocks acted as foci at the show of hostility. "There are exceptions to everything Severus." she pointed out. "Most accidental magic is based on intent, deep intent that children can do because they don't have the experience to control their magic, but their magic doesn't simply act on its own. Intent, Severus, intent."

"You might be brilliant in classes," Snape hissed, "But you're _loony_ , you know that?"

"Believe what you will Severus. Veritaserum was only invented forty years ago and before that, nobody thought such a powerful truth serum could be made. Why can't what I say about wandless magic be just as true?"

"Because you- you're-" Snape snarled, "You're mad, that's why! And everyone knows by now that there are ways around veritaserum!"

"Which means it can be improved upon doesn't it? Magic isn't meant to sit still and neither are cultures. They are meant to evolve and grow isn't that right?"

And now she was treading into how backwards the magical side of the Isles were.

"We are not having this discussion." he barked in response and Vi hummed, allowing the end of this particular conversation. She managed to stick her lava-glass onto her bracelet securely before digging for two shiny gold galleons, tossing it to the hag whose wide eyes and awed expression disappeared a moment later as she coveted the money.

"They aren't worth that much." Pet scoffed.

"Not to her." Vi acknowledged. "But they could prove dead useful with enough practice for us."

At the promise of practicing more magic and with something other than her wand, Pet's studious and inquisitive nature perked up. It would certainly be a lot on the proverbial plate' she and Vi had taken to researching the Animagus transformation. Only research but they had planned on trying to find out if they were able to do it this summer and after much, much quiet debate. It would likely take years to come close to mastering it if they even had the ability to. Just like what Vi was apparently saying about wandless magic, some people just weren't able. Naturally, if they were successful they certainly won't be registering themselves.

In fact, there were only seven registered this century and considering how dangerous the entire process was and how rare the ability, that wasn't just because of numerous unregistered animagi. It required diligence and power and an innate ability. Could they handle adding another thing on top of those summer plans? They didn't have long…

Well, Pet reasoned to herself, they wouldn't know unless they tried.

xXx

Snape stayed for lunch, and then dinner as well before slinking back home. "I wish he wouldn't spend so much time here." Pet grumbled from her desk, having finally gotten back to her work when they returned. They did indeed get swimming costumes while they were there but naturally, Pet was more interested in the foci they got. But schoolwork first, best to get that all done and out of the way.

Sleep came easily enough and Pet kept her rock around her neck and she was sure Vi hadn't taken off that bracelet with hers, even if both girls had their wands under their pillows. They spent time mostly in their garden or in their room, but they really did get to go to the beach for Vi's birthday.

"Finally joined us!" Lily said brightly under her floppy sun hat. Not that Pet could say much, having a similar one on her own pale head. They were both fairly slathered in sunscreen, as was Snape and their mum. Their redheaded dad was grinning at them, eyes twinkling in laughter at their tendencies to get sunburn. Not that Pet would; there were potions for that and she had already used a salve to prevent her delicate skin from turning all red and blistered. She had been tempted to give some to her mum but then she'd have to share with Lily and Snape (he should have thought to make some himself, he was just as good at Potions as Vi! She would never admit that he might even be better).

"Fourteen now, all of our ladies." mum sighed under her own hat, having taken up a space under the huge parasol dad had stuck into the ground.

"That's right! Remember ladies, no boys!" then he paused to grin. "Except Severus of course." and he then he set them loose on the beach with some money and hearty demands that they go have fun. It wasn't as densely populated as the bigger beach a bit of a distance away but there were still a great deal of people to deal with.

"Are you absolutely sure you don't want any sunscreen?" she heard Lily asking Vi again. Honestly, when would that airhead learn that Vi never burned? Her dusky skin just gained a sort of caramel gold glow. With her wild black hair and vivid pale eyes, crooked grin and huge gold hoop earrings Pet thought she looked exotic among them. Peachy pale blonde Pet with her blue-grey eyes, fair skinned redheaded Lily with her darker green eyes and wanly pale Snape, made seemingly paler by his black hair and eyes. Pet huffed, straightening out her short teal and mint patterned dress. It was a cover for her swimming costume and Vi's was quite cute, paisley in gold and pinks. They would be stuffed in Pet's tote bag before they went into the water but for now it was nice.

"I don't need sunscreen. You might want to put another layer on though." Vi advised. "You as well Severus."

"Not all of us are so inclined towards the sun." Snape winced, taking the bottle Lily handed him. "I hate the beach."

"Then why come?" Pet asked, narrowing her eyes at him and crossing her arms.

"Oh stop being such a sourpuss, Tuney!" Lily huffed, grabbing Snape's hand and dragging him to get ice-cream. Pet rolled her eyes, turning to Vi.

"Want to head in the water?" she asked and Vi smiled, hands already moving to pull off the nice flowy little cover. Pet followed the example, taking in their bodies with critical eyes. There were…A few small scars from spell practice gone wrong but they weren't too noticeable. Pet had a few small scars on her fingers from the knives they used for potions before Vi had managed to swipe some charmed ones. Vi's scars were more noticeable, the thin silvery lines stark against her skin but not, Pet thought, unattractive. A starburst from a stray spell from an older year in second year lay high on her hip above the bottom half of her costume, the most eye-catching.

Pet was willowy in form, slim and slender. Vi on the other hand was dainty but wiry- she looked a bit scrappy and since she did take to flying like a Granian, her thighs were thicker and firmer as well as her bum. She was also four inches shorter than Pet and the shortest of them in general. To be fair, if not pressed down her hair added at least an inch and a half in curls. Speaking of the tight curls, Vi gathered up the thick locks to pull into a high ponytail not unlike Pet's own.

Fifteen minutes later saw either girl on the shoulders of a set of brothers, laughing and trying to wrestle the other duo down in the water. Pet had a height advantage but physically Vi was the stronger one. Her black-haired sister laughed triumphantly as she managed to push the blonde and her partner back in the water.

They'd spent a good deal of time with those boys, Michael and Darren, laughing and flirting as pretty young girls and dashing boys did. They even ate ice-cream together after spending however long in the water playing around and talking. Pet giggled into Michael's shoulder as Darren wildly gesticulated about an anecdote from Spain with one arm while the other was wrapped around Vi as they sat together by a group of their friends, smoking and talking pleasantly. Pet almost forgot how nice things like this were; she doubted they could do this in the magical world. She'd seen their swimming cozzies. They looked like they belonged in _museums_.

It was when the sky started to go a little orange that Pet had to disentangle, pulling Vi with her.

(There might have been a few kisses and gropes and a little snogging before they left but Pet would never tell.)

"There you are! Have fun?" mum smiled at them as they finally returned after taking one last dip in the cooling water. Pet's smile was brilliant and Vi's giggle was proof enough of fun. They went home with Lily pestering about where they'd went.

xXx

August seemed to be gone before it could be enjoyed and Pet sighed as they settled into a compartment to go towards their fourth year with the knowledge that they would spend much of any free time trying to meditate and work on their slow path towards achieving the Animagus transformation. Rolo stretched between her and Vi with his large paws using Pet's thigh to help. On their other side unfortunately, were Snape and the twit. It had become a terrible tradition that they stayed in a compartment together, even with as many miscellaneous trips Pet and Vi took to see their friends and spend time with them. For the moment, Vi was reading one of their new books only…It was in some other language. Staring at the strange lines and squiggles, she thought of Arabic but Pet didn't think it was that either. What could it be? Evidently she wasn't the only one to have noticed.

"Lettie what are you reading?" Lily asked curiously, staring at the dusty and worn looking tome in her lap. Her small owl was sleeping in her lap and she was still petting it gently.

"A book, Lily." came the prompt answer, Vi entrenched in whatever it was and very clearly fluent in whatever it was.

"Obviously." Snape drawled with a scoff, slouched back into his seat and watching the window as they rode. He glanced over at the book though, betraying his interest. "What's it on?"

"Mostly magic." she said.

"You're being awfully vague, Lettie." Lily frowned at her and Vi briefly glanced up before her eyes were drawn down to her book.

"It's on animal speak and its effects on magic."

"Animal speak?"

"Abilities for talking to animals of all sorts. And how using animal speak specific spells differ from normal spellcasting."

"What language is it?" Pet asked, knowing that she would get a proper answer from her sister.

"Parseltongue." she answered plainly and Pet cocked her head to the side. Lily was frowning even deeper and Snape looked especially pale. Vi looked up at those two disapprovingly. "Something wrong?"

"You can understand it?"

"I imagine any parselmouth can, yes."

"You- but you're a muggleborn-" Snape sputtered, sitting up.

"I can talk to snakes and serpents. If I try hard enough I can talk to lizards too but it's not as fluent as when I talk to their limbless cousins." Vi went on before looking at Snape. "Magical abilities can crop up in muggleborns too. It's not entirely hereditary, though any children I have will likely carry it too."

"But only Slytherin-"

"Don't be silly, of course Parseltongue isn't limited only to the Slytherin line! Look at Egypt and Africa, there are cases of it there long before stories of Slytherin, even if it is rare." Pet interrupted. "It's just _especially_ isolated here." she sniffed. "Honestly. Are you a Ravenclaw or not?"

"Not everyone spends all their time researching everything Evans. Some people have things like work or even social lives you know, not spending all day locked up in their rooms." Snape replied dryly. He called Lily by her name and had taken to doing the same for Violet but called her Evans. Which was mutual really, since she would never call him by his name.

"I don't want to hear that from someone who has no social life outside following one or my other sister."

"Excuse me?" Snape's eyes were narrowed now, a formidable sneer on his face.

"Both of you stop it." Vi's sharp rebuttal made both settle, even if they did send vile glares.

"Why can't the two of you get along?" Lily sighed and they looked at her, Pet incredulous and Snape with exasperation.

"We've been over why, Lily." he managed after a few quiet moments.

"But, if you'd just sit and have a few civil conversations I'm sure you'd find common grounds!"

"Our 'common ground' is our House and Violet." Pet sighed, leaning back and turning back to the aforementioned girl. "So what does your book really say? About magic being affected and all." she waved a hand vaguely.

"Most of the time the spells are stronger in animal speak and wards and passwords are of course, better in animal speak than any normal tongue. It's got a few rituals as well, here and there. There's speculation about talking to serpentine dragons but that's myth."

"Only that? That book looks thick."

"Well, there's also recorded conversations with different animals and the like but most of those are fairly dull. Conversation skills on an animal aren't typically up to a person's standards of speaking and their priorities are different."

"What do you mean?"

"Reproduction, mating, food, those sorts of things mostly." she said flippantly and both Snape and Lily's faces went red. Neither wore it well. "Did you know snakes have mating balls? It's like a snake orgy."

"Please don't Lettie, I don't really need to know that." Lily whimpered. Pet made sure not to grin as she posed a question.

"I wonder if, then, Slytherins have orgies?"

"I'd think that'd be more Hufflepuff actually. Trust and all." Vi pointed out and Pet hummed thoughtfully.

"That's a fair point."

"Restroom. Going to the restroom." Snape burst out, quickly scurrying out.

"You know, I promised Alice I'd come see her and the others in another compartment." Lily hurried to say, escaping just as quickly.

"Brilliant as always Vi."

"I do try, Pet."

xXx

Morty and Marty had apparently made it a game to see which of them could flirt with Vi the most before Pet hexed them. Morty won since Marty tended to have a bit too much dramatic flair and Morty usually snuck his flirtations when Pet was being distracted by an especially sweet Hufflepuff boy. A week later and that same Hufflepuff refused to talk to her after some vicious prank was pulled on him. Black was even more irritating during that time and by the time they were going for winter holiday, Pet had hexed him a total of forty-seven times. He spent a good deal of time in the Hospital Wing only to bounce out and bother her even more persistently afterwards.

So on the train, Pet was up and slamming the door of their compartment shut before it was even fully open since she saw Black's smarmy bastard face.

"Eeeeevans, c'mon open up! What, scared of me?"

"If you show your face again," Pet hissed through the door, "I'll stop being so nice about my hexes."

"You were being nice before?" Snape muttered in disbelief.

"She was showing incredible restraint actually." Vi offered up and Snape looked flummoxed. "Especially since the one bothering her is Black. You know I heard rumors he's been snogging through all the girls in Gryffindor?"

"He certainly has not!" Lily's offended shout was quick to rebuke.

"Not in your year." Pet hissed. "The fifth and sixth years! He's the worst sort! Do you hear that, Black?! You're a scummy nasty toe-rag!"

"Straight to my heart Evans! You know how to wound a man!"

"There are no men here, so I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about. Now go away!"

"So cruel!"

After making sure he'd walked away, Pet eased back from the door warily before casting a sixth year level sealing spell at the door. That ought to keep him out if he decided to come back.

"He only bothers because you react." Vi pointed out.

"How can I not react? Besides, he deserves every Hospital Wing stay he gets if not more!"

"I never said he didn't Pet." Vi sniggered and Pet sighed, slamming back into her seat after Vi pulled Rolo closer to her. "Besides the Gryffindors, he's been snogging girls in our House too."

"Probably more than just that if you'll believe Vaisey."

"I don't like Vaisey but I wouldn't doubt it." Snape scoffed then.

"Boys that age are filled with burgeoning hormones. He might be the most forward but a lot of the boys have been very flirty lately. And you wouldn't believe the amount of unintentional erections you'd see during classes." Vi said then and they looked at her.

"Erm…" Lily coughed slightly before Snape returned to meekly staring elsewhere with the air of an antsy first year. "I don't think we needed to know that Vi."

"It's a natural cycle for boys this age, normal bodily function, I don't understand why you look so flustered. Just the same as girls get their monthlies."

"Please stop." Snape whispered, shrunk down as far as he could be in his seat and covering his face.

"Did you know that men go through a time not dissimilar? Their semen builds up and many of the symptoms women feel, emotional sensitivity, cramps, cravings, men also experience?"

"Semen buil-" Snape choked and Lily looked to be too mortified to even open her fat mouth. Good, Pet thought. It might have been better if Black had to suffer it too.

"I'm going to nap, I think." Vi declared then, turning and shifting to get comfortable.

"How can you- after saying all that-" Lily squeaked.

"Impartiality." was the answer.

"I still think they should have sex education as a course."

"Tuney!" Lily's scandalized look was promptly ignored.

"It would help." Vi nodded, "Rather than having to find the books they do have for it."

"Handy charms though." she sighed and delighted in how uncomfortable the other two were.

"But there should be a class or at least some sort of talk about it all. They'd probably try to tout abstinence."

"Likely." Vi yawned and Pet hummed, grabbing her own book and letting Vi get to her nap.

xXx

Despite Snape avoiding her like the plague, he did still hang around Vi during break, even though it was mostly Vi saying the embarrassing bits. If only he were as obnoxious as Black, then she'd be able to hex him without question. Well, she amended, as soon as they got back to Hogwarts. She turned the corner, intending on stealing her favored sister back when she froze. Snape and Vi were huddled close together, sitting beneath a large tree by the park and she thought they might have been writing in a book together but the way they look so close together, Snape leaning in over her and Vi almost in his lap made Pet's heart seize up a little bit. Because no- Snape was Lily's follower. He shouldn't be that close to Vi anyways.

Still, she whirled around and stomped off to their garden, crunching through snow.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

So this is a pretty immediate update; please note this is abnormal as far as my posting times go. Well, hormonal young teens and Pet disliking Lily and Snape even more!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disc.** \- So if you've been unaware of it this whole time, I do not own Harry Potter! Crazy right?

 **This Story…** \- So this story has a pretty specific niche and I'm so glad it gets as much love as it does! Also, I've decided on Vi's animagus form. Pet, however, won't have one due to the inclusivity of that branch of magic. However, all the training will mean that she will have an easier time of learning mind magics I think. Also, when I think of Violet's nickname I think of pronouncing it as 'Vye' (like saying one might be vying for attention) rather than 'Vee'. Also also, thirteen to fourteen year olds? Perverted little assholes. Are they going beyond snogging and maybe a few innocent fumbling gropes? Not in this story they're not, not until they're at _least_ sixteen and even then it probably won't be actual sex, just so you know now. But we hop from their fourth year to their fifth.

As for the whole Sirius and Petunia thing I'll say _right_ now that they'll get together sometime after they graduate. Not during the school years though.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"I feel like time is just moving so quickly…" Lily sighed on their way back to Hogwarts, making idle doodles on the recent notepad she'd gotten for the habit. Pet herself never understood the doodling thing, having never felt the need to desecrate her work with idle scribbles. "Sometimes it feels like we never see our parents at all."

"That's because as soon as we're home you're out of the house." Pet answered her dryly.

"I think it's important to keep in touch with the muggle side, that's all."

"We just got a color telly, Vi and I are keeping up fine. _While_ spending time with mum and dad." she was fighting not to snap out on the girl but usually it was Vi who defused these situation and she had gone off somewhere with Snape as soon as they set their trunks and the cats in their compartment. It's been almost three hours since then and frankly, Pet was amazed she hadn't yet hexed that redheaded twit.

"But it's not just the telly! It's not just watching people on it, even if it _is_ color now. We need to, to interact! You know, somewhere where we can't just use magic to fix all our problems."

"But we _can_ use magic to fix most of our problems. Our muggle ones anyways. Imagine never having to pay for heating oil again by using charmed blankets and charming the windows to make sure no drafts get in? Where a fire could warm our whole house? Never having to waste money on too many cleaning products because we have wands and spells to do most of that. Cooking or making more space where there's none to be had, saving more money for a larger home together."

Those were the things that plagued Pet the most when they went back home. How spells and potions and wards and all sorts of other things they could use would make things easier on their parents. And sure, technically Pet and Vi could cast a few helpful spells (Vi had acquired a delightful book about household charms, spells and enchantments) they had to be a little bit careful. The traces on their wands might be off but the Ministry was able to see who used magic where in an area. Small things were best and potions they could do as much as they wanted but they had to be a little more careful about waving their wands. She wasn't sure how Vi protected the magic they did do actually. She'd been working on something lately, with Snape but she refused to tell Pet what. Just that it would be _most_ helpful. While she was distracted, Lily sighed and frowned.

"I wish we could just move them into the magical world but what could they do there? Almost all of the jobs use magic…"

"They don't need jobs in the magical world if they live there. Squibs live there and some of them have jobs in the muggle world."

"But they're probably really alienated right? And how awful must it be to live in the magic world but not do any magic?"

"They wouldn't move there anyways. Uprooting now would be foolish." came Lily's answer in the form of their youngest sister slipping in, Snape like a looming dark shadow behind her. "Besides if they did that, all of our hard work would be for nothing."

"Your hard work? What do you mean? Is this about that project you were working on?" Lily asked, curious as the two black-haired teens took their respective places.

"Yes." Snape answered cautiously, looking at Vi. She nodded.

"We've been buying more foci. I told you before about how they can be used in wards didn't I?"

"Wards?"

"You mean to put wards around our house." Pet was quick to realize, quickly becoming more animated. "What will it do? How will it work? How would you even find out how to set it up, I mean when we read about it before it was incredibly complex and-"

"With wands, it's incredibly complex. With foci like stones we can create a very rudimentary ward set that would be overlooked by the Ministry because natural foci appear all the time and sometimes they create natural barriers in places completely by coincidence."

"Its purpose," Snape picked up, "Would be incredibly simple since we can't do much anything else. Protection from thieves and unwelcome guests mostly."

"As well as keeping away any potential pests, since most animals can feel magic in an area. Our companions will be fine of course."

"It will also," Snape said slowly, looking to Lily with a sort of concern. "Let us perform simple spells without the Ministry knowing."

"The natural magic of a foci-based ward would protect us. And since we're in the muggle world, it won't really be noticed. If this were to be attempted in the magical world this kind of ward would easily be torn down."

"Which is why we've spent so much time and effort to hoard as many of those stones as possible on the off chance a magical might wander by. It will fortify the ward as well as-"

"Acting as a sort of camouflage on top of it. It takes a few very special stones to work like that and we had quite a time trying to find ways to make them work together the way we wanted them to."

"That's…That's amazing!" Lily burst, completely awed. Pet was less enthused. They couldn't just throw those rocks together, they needed a ritual to make a ward that would camouflage another ward. She'd been reading up a lot since the summer they got those stones. Jewels, gems, crystals, whatever they were. They needed a ritual and while she wouldn't bring it up in front of that twit, she certainly wouldn't be letting them off the hook.

She also felt a sharp pang of hurt. Why didn't Vi come to her about it? Why him?

xXx

The easiest answer was potions. Pet was no slouch at the subject but Snape was a veritable prodigy. Their ritual needed dangerously complex potions and a _lot_ of magical power to be set up. Vi, Pet knew, would be giving the brunt of the magic. Even if, Pet grumbled to herself, Snape had fairly…Strong magic, Vi was something else and she and he both knew it. So much power was needed for their ritual, in fact, that it's been known to be fatal.

 _Fatal_. This was the real reason Pet was excluded from this project. Because Violet could _die_. In exchange, their wards would be powered on for the next half decade and they would be able to freely use casual magic as long as there weren't any random muggles watching. It would also protect their home and family from anyone seeking to do harm by issuing a warning to the inhabitants of the house.

"You've gone barking mad." she murmured to herself faintly after forcing information out of them. Then fury quickly took over her senses and she swung her gaze to a quiet Snape. "You want to get my sister killed?!" she bellowed and was glad for Vi's forethought to put up a few privacy centered spells in the empty room she'd dragged them to after dinner.

"This ritual is perfectly safe for her," he hissed back, eyes sparking and before she knew it, both had wands out and pointed at one another. It was, of course, a completely nonchalant Violet that wandlessly took them as they slapped into her hand.

"Both of you stop that. We've got more important things to do than squabble amongst eachother." she chided them both. "And like he said Pet, I am perfectly safe. I would never recklessly endanger my life for something like this, we would have found a different ritual. Have some faith please."

"What's in it for him then?"

"We'll be doing it for his house as well." her eyes glinted sharply.

"But…His parents are…" people meant to do harm would be more or less confounded and feel the pressing urge to leave the area the ward affected. Considering his parents relationship, it was…

"We have it under control." she said and once more, Pet felt a tingle of fear. There was something about the way she looked, the way she said it. Very rarely would Vi get like this but since that first outburst years ago, it occasionally happened. She shivered before letting the issue drop. She might have been headstrong and she might be a leader but if it came down to it, she would submit to Vi without batting a lash. It's just that usually Vi was perfectly content to have Pet lead. Perfectly content to follow. "We should get to the dorms."

And that was the end of that.

xXx

Pet watched Vi shoot a spell in the busy corridor and hid a vicious grin when she saw the targets. Black was especially aggravating to her but Potter was on Lily's case all the time now and while Pet didn't care about that so much, any excuse to knock those damn Gryffindors down a peg was reason enough to her. It could also be that they targeted Snape fairly often. It didn't help that he had a tendency to spit back acerbic insults and more than once did Vi intervene. He just didn't seem to learn that goading them wasn't a good idea. Pet personally chocked it up to stupid male pride. And just stupidity in general.

In this particular instance, it was a disgusting result.

"The bat bogey hex." Vi whispered, something fond in her voice.

"I want to learn it. Immediately."

"Of course Pet."

"Was that you?" Snape mumbled as he joined them, having slunk away from those four in the confusion. They'd been harassing him for spending time with Lily again.

"Would it have been anyone else?" Pet scoffed. She didn't care how well he got along with Vi, she would never like him. Of that, she was certain. They carried on to class after Snape glared at her, keeping close to Vi's side. She hated that they were apparently so familiar now. That in classes they paired together as often as not. Pet was even getting the stomach-churning suspicion that it wasn't just about how well Vi does in classes to ensure a good grade but because they genuinely enjoyed spending time together. And that was just awful because Pet didn't like being separated from Vi. Vi was her closest and best friend, her confidant and partner.

Oh sure, logically she knew they'd drift a little bit, spend more time with other people as they got older but why _him?_ Why not Morty or Marty or Diane? Why not Marlene or Macy? Why _Snape?_ He was Lily's pet, the sniveling little bastard! Pet had never and _would_ never like Lily's followers. Snape was her biggest follower and right behind him was Potter. Vi shouldn't be dragged into it. Vi should never be dragged into it, never again.

Pet knew what it was like, being befriended and then ditched for Lily. And Snape would choose Lily over Vi in a heartbeat, Pet knew it. Vi offered him protection, information, a familiar and a spot as her friend. And he would forsake it all if Lily so had the whim. The twit never would but it was the principle of the matter. Despite Vi's amazing generosity and her care, the time she put into him and the effort he would cast it all away for _Lily_. She could see it whenever the gangly bastard looked at their redheaded sister. And Pet _hated_ him for it. She trusted Vi to look after herself but that didn't mean she didn't want to ward off anyone who'd callously throw her baby sister away.

She would never trust Snape with Vi because he would abandon her for Lily. He might have some loyalty to Violet now but his ties to Lily were too strong.

xXx

"Wicked scar," Morty whistled and Pet rolled her eyes as the dark skinned boy ogled her sister later in the year. It was just warm enough for them to dip into the lake a bit now. She swatted the boy away from Violet who hummed as she stood next to her.

"Should we dive in from that overhanging rock there or should we just go from the shore?" she asked and Pet contemplated that, eyeing the rock in question. A few of the Ravenclaw boys were jumping off already, flipping and twisting and generally being show-offs. She scoffed to herself.

"We can show those boys a thing or two." Pet decided as she grabbed Marlene to join them. Among their group, Marlene and Violet were the most athletically inclined but Pet liked to think she wasn't too bad with keeping up with dance practice. Marlene grinned at the sisters before darting up the rock, Vi close behind but Pet took a little more time to herself. By the time she got up with the rest, Marlene was already whooping and throwing herself over the lake, curling up and making a disproportionately large splash. "How dull." Pet scoffed, pushing herself to the edge and performing an elegant swan dive after a quick somersault down. She surfaced in time to see Violet jumping off backwards, use her closeness to the rock to forcibly eject herself farther out and twist beautifully several times before slipping under the surface. She grinned, quickly making her way over to her sister's landing point and giggling as she surfaced, pushing her errant bangs back. The rest of her hair was in a tight bun at the back of her head just the same as Pet's was.

"How did I do?"

"Nice execution but I think you could have been a bit flashier." Pet shrugged and Vi snorted and they giggled together before Marlene burst from the water, attaching herself to Pet's back.

"Attack of the water 'Claw!" she howled and Pet growled before they ended up more or less wrestling in the water.

"Marlie, you little-!"

Vi was swift in wrapping herself around Marlene in a snug hold, making the cackling mocha haired girl release Pet. "Violet, you naughty thing you! Ganging up isn't nice!"

"She never did say she was nice." Morty sniggered as he quickly approached, Marty swimming along just behind him.

"Even if she's an absolute cupcake most of the time." Marty went on with a grin, the brothers easily disentangling their tiny friend from the rambunctious other girl. "C'mon, you can climb all over me instead."

"Shove off." his brother scoffed, easily flinging a compliant Vi on his back to tread away from his twin who gave an ungraceful squawk of indignation and took off after them. Pet rolled her eyes before turning to Marlene.

"Feel like staging a rescue?"

"Absolutely!"

xXx

"How long have you been in the water?" came the question and Pet made an aborted noise of aggravation, opening her eyes where she was floating lightly near the shore. One either side were a relaxed Macy and sunbathing Diane. Over them stood Lily, Snape right behind her.

"Since noon." she grunted. Her two friends would leave this interaction to her no doubt.

"Where's Lettie?"

" _Vi_ is still faffing about with Marlene. And probably Albert."

"I'd say Albert is more chasing around Marlene to be honest." Macy sighed dejectedly.

"What does that boy see in her?"

"Probably her knockers. She's already got cleavage you know." Pet snorted just to watch Lily and Snape sputter.

"Then why do the twins hang around Vi?" Diane asked slyly. On her left Macy grinned, feeling better talking about Vi rather than Albert's attraction to Marlene.

"Probably her bum."

"She does have a nice bum." Diane nodded sagely. Pet wasn't going to argue- she wished her own bum as was fit as Vi's sometimes. "I think they just like competing over the girl who could tell them apart."

"That's also a good theory."

"You're both forgetting her stunning personality." Pet sighed and both girls hummed.

"I'd think that'd be a secondary reason really."

"Are you two still standing there being useless?" Pet turned her attention back to her less favorable sister and Snape. "What do you want?"

Used to these kinds of remarks, Lily was entirely unperturbed and smiled at her widely. "I was actually wondering if we could study together."

"We're a little busy." Pet replied snidely, settling again.

"Well maybe not right now but later?"

"Lily." Pet huffed.

"Something going on?" Vi asked suddenly and Pet sat up to look at her tan sister. Just behind her Marlene was sniggering, lips swollen and glancing back at where a dazed Albert was being harassed by the twins.

"I think the better question is what went on back there. Marlie?"

"Albert." she said smugly and Macy sent the girl a dark look. "To be fair, I suppose I might have teased him a little too much. Poor boy," she cooed and Diane snorted.

"You don't know what remorse even is Marlene."

"Enough about me, what's the lion and Snape doing here?"

"Severus, Lily?" Vi turned to them.

"We wanted to know if you might want to study together later." Lily said brightly and Vi glanced at Pet. Pet clenched her jaw.

"We've got our schedule packed for the next week in study groups and extra credit work. This, frankly, is the only time we'll be relaxing for the next two weeks."

"Oh…But why are you studying so hard?"

"Fifth Year? Tests? Hello, we're Ravenclaws! We have so much pressure to do well!" Macy answered her, irritated from Marlene's earlier words.

"Fifth year?" Lily frowned in confusion and Snape winced at the reminder. "But the tests then are so far away, the end of next year!"

"You hang around Snape all the time and you still don't seem to understand, even a bit, the sheer ferocity Ravenclaws are capable of when it comes to our studies."

"Violet!" came the call and they looked back to see Morty and Marty tread water to get close enough to stand and grin down at the girl. "Albert got snogged."

"I was there when it happened." she told the boys, turning away from them to face the two boys and cocking a hip out.

"Definitely for her bum," Diane stage-whispered and Vi sent back a long suffering look before turning back to the boys.

"Yes well we were wondering that if you were to snog one of us, which would it be?"

"Were I to snog one of you, I would likely snog the other too." Vi answered simply. "As it is, I'm not very interested in snogging either of you."

"Why not?" Morty pouted, exaggerating deep hurt as he slung an arm around her slim shoulders.

"I think of you both as particularly annoying cousins and I don't condone incest."

"Lettie!" Lily cried, scandalized as Marlene burst into hysterical laughter, Macy choking on her own and Diane nodded knowingly. Pet rolled her eyes laying back down to lounge.

"How disappointing." Marty sighed but his grin belied it. "Is there anyone you'd like to snog?"

"Like I'd tell such blabbermouths who I want to liplock with."

"So much pain! Are you saying you don't trust us?"

"I trust you fairly well. But I also trust you'll tell anyone and everyone if I ever told either of you a secret."

"She knows us so well."

"We're her favorite cousins after all."

"Does that mean you're Pet's cousin too?" Diane asked them with a smile.

"Eugh. No thank you, we'll just take Vi-Vi here."

"I would be offended but the feeling is mutual."

"The important part is that there's someone Vi wants to kiss." Marlene reminded them. "And it's not those two or Albert."

"How do you know it's not Albert?" Macy frowned.

"She didn't care when I kissed Albert." the dark haired girl told her and Macy scowled, looking away. She turned speculative blue eyes to Snape who tensed immediately under the look. "She has been spending quite a lot of time with Snape though hasn't she?"

"Don't even _joke_ about that." Pet reprimanded sharply. "For all any of you know, it could be Wildsmith or Powell or Rowle or Warrington. He might not even be in our House or our year."

"Claus Vane is pretty dreamy." Diane giggled and well, no one could argue with that. Just a year above them and possibly one of the most handsome boys in Ravenclaw. Maybe even the school. Pet sighed just thinking about him, as did Macy and Marlene.

"Ran Li in Slytherin is pretty good looking too." Macy contributed and yes, the Slytherin was. And possibly one of the most laidback Slytherins they'd ever had to deal with in classes. As she recalled, Vi had only worked with him a handful of times through their school years, mostly staying with either her or Snape.

"But he goes through girlfriends so quickly." Marlene huffed. "I certainly hope it's not him you'd like to play tongue wrestling with."

"Don't be obscene." Marty scoffed.

"If I were being obscene I'd have said something much worse."

"Worse?" Lily squeaked. Were she and Snape still there? Morons.

"I could have said something like, someone she'd lift her skirt for or who she'd go on her knees for or who she'd go without knickers for or who she thinks about when she polishes her pearl-"

"Stop please!" Lily's voice was so high Pet was surprised it hadn't broke. "Are you always so- so-"

"Perverted? In words and mind only really. I'd bet she's only snogged a few boys." Macy told the red faced redhead. Marlene shrugged and didn't deny the claim.

"All raging teenage hormones." Vi reminded them, well used to the girl's typical fantasizing. "It'll likely only get worse until she reaches young adulthood. It should balance itself a bit more by then."

"As though you're not full of hormones too."

"I'm not broadcasting that I am." she shot back. "It's all a perfectly normal process Lily, Severus. I don't understand why you're both so flustered about this still."

"Remember when you mentioned seeing all of the unintentional- what was it again?" Pet smiled innocently, delighting in the small dying noise Snape made.

"Erections. All the unintentional erections one sees in class. For males, they tend to happen fairly often and likely with no real reason."

"They just pop woodies you mean." Marlene sniggered, pointing at Morty and directing their attention to his crotch. He scoffed, turning his lower body away from the gazes with a notably calm manner even if his face was burning in embarrassment. "I think that one was from staring at Vi's bum though."

"It is not!"

"I'll agree with Dearborn on this one." Marty told his brother seriously.

"Traitor!"

"I'm sure if I were a boy," Diane began consolingly, "I would have one too if faced with Vi's bum in her swimming costume. And I don't think you have room to talk Marty since you've been staring at Macy's legs for the past three minutes."

"Oooh," Marlene grinned wide as Marty and Macy both flushed red, pointedly not looking at the other.

"I'm just- I'm gonna go." Lily muttered, whipping around to speed walk away from them, Snape quick to flee behind her.

"That was the most opportune timing." Vi told Morty who mumbled under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I really wasn't staring at your bum…"

"Yes you were." Vi said bluntly. "I don't particularly mind. I like my arse too."

xXx

By the time they were getting onto the train to head home for the summer hols, Vi had ended up kissing the MacDougal brothers on a dare. (Pet had been made to tell Sirius Black that he had nice hair. It was an awful game and she had been witnessed telling him through grit teeth the next day. He'd been confused but of course pleased because he was a narcissistic _git_ who preened under compliments). To be fair, Diane had to lick a portrait (said portrait was very disgusted), Macy had to confess to Albert (Marty had looked a little disappointed) and Marlene…Marlene had to kiss Vaisey _on the lips_ since she'd been the one to give Pet her dare of making her actually pay a compliment to Black. They really needed to do away with this tradition of truth or dare the week before they went home.

"You know, since you've said it Black has worn his hair down." Marlene said casually in the doorway. Lily hadn't found them yet, so Marlie had opted to stay with her until the chit showed up just because she liked to fluster people and Lily was an easy target.

"Probably hopes to get more praise shoveled on him." Pet scoffed.

"He's been harassing the boys that talk to you, y'know."

"He harasses everyone and he specifically likes to annoy me, yes. Is there a point to this?"

"Nothing, nothing." Marlie held her hands up with a shrug. Pet narrowed her eyes.

"If you think that dirty rotten _toe-rag_ fancies me, you're delusional. The only person I could see him ever liking that way is his own reflection."

"But hypothetically, just hypothetically! What if he did fancy you?"

"I'd tell him in no small terms that I would never even think of him in a flattering way, let alone look at him and feel something like genuine attraction. He might be a bit pretty but his personality is ugly enough to ward off any starry eyed thoughts. But since the only person he could ever love is himself, I never have to worry about dealing with that."

"How cold." Marlie smiled. Pet rolled her eyes, turning back to her book pointedly. The girl turned her attention to Vi. "But really, who do you want to snog?"

"I'm not telling."

"That just makes me want to find out even more."

"Since you're so interested, one might think _you_ wanted to snog Vi." Diane said then and Marlene went red in the face.

"I don't want to do that with a girl!" she spluttered. Then she paused, looking around at them speculatively.

"No."

"I didn't even say anything!"

"As though we don't know what you were just contemplating." Pet scoffed.

"Well I mean, how different can it really be?"

"No."

"Tuney, Lettie, sorry we're late, we were-" Lily began cheerfully, only to freeze when she was swung around and a pair of lips planted themselves firmly on her own.

"Marlie, no! Bad, bad girl!" Pet barked, sending a mild stinging hex at her fellow 'Claw. The brunette let go of her Gryffindor sister with a satisfied grin, smacking her lips.

"Tastes like vanilla. What kind of chapstick do you use?"

"I- I, what?" Lily sputtered, face red and eyes very wide. Behind her Snape was staring, looking both alarmed and horrified.

"I think I like kissing girls." Marlene decided. "More testing certainly wouldn't hurt of course." she waggled her brows at Lily who immediately backed away and into a still frozen Snape. "No? Shame. I'll have to find some other girl I suppose. C'mon, Macy, Diane! I need help finding my next volunteer!"

"Oi, why are we being roped into this?"

"I think it'll be funny," Diane reassured the other girl and Macy grumbled but got up to follow.

"Are you twits just going to stand there or are you going to sit down?" Pet snapped and the two other teens filtered in and sat heavily, still startled over the recent event. "You act as though you've never been kissed before." she scoffed.

"I…I hadn't."

"…Did you just say you hadn't kissed anyone before now?" Pet asked, incredulous. "Are you actually telling me that _Marlene_ was your first kiss?"

"She'll be delighted." Vi pointed out.

"She'll be insufferable." Pet argued before turning her calculating gaze back onto Lily.

"You make it sound as though it's so easy," Lily grumbled under her breath, embarrassed now.

"It _is_ easy. Why, I had my first kiss when I was eight! Vi had hers when she was ten! How have you never kissed anyone? No- wait no, don't answer that. I don't want to know."

"Eight?! Ten! When were these? Why didn't I hear about it?"

"Well technically, Pet's was under mistletoe and mine was from the boy who used to live down the street from us, the one who moved to Leeds."

"But…But he was four years older than us!" Lily spluttered and Vi shrugged.

"Wait, let me guess…Snape, you've not been kissed either have you? I mean, not that it would be surprising." Pet turned a newly malicious gaze to Snape, lips curling in a rather mean way. His gaze cut away and his cheeks heated up but he didn't seem as riled or mortified as he should have been.

"I…I have," he mumbled. Pet reared back, shocked. Who would ever set their lips on _Snape?_ Certainly not any of the Ravenclaw girls, she'd have heard of it! And since Marlene was Lily's first kiss, that ruled her out…

"Really?"

"It- it wasn't a real kiss, it was just…Some enchanted mistletoe, is all." he slunk down, shrinking into himself at the attention from the two Evans sisters. Pet shook her head, aggravated before turning back to Lily.

"That means you're the last to have your first kiss," she accused.

"It'll be held over your head now. I mean, not as much as _how_ you lost it but still." Vi piped in again, scratching at Cleo's fluffy furry stomach as she purred. "This will be used years from now."

Lily's dismayed expression was enough to sate Pet and she settled back, glancing out at the changing scenery.

xXx

"Did you see anything?" Pet asked her sister intently.

"I got the impression of a…Bipedal? Fluffy animal."

"Progress! Fantastic!" Pet exclaimed with an excited grin, quick to scribble the vague details down. "Just think," Pet sighed happily, "It's only a matter of time before you're shifting your entire physiology to that of an animal! Incredible!"

"Magic usually is." her sister grinned at her ruefully. Pet, unfortunately, was unable to harness an Animagus form. Still she would go through all the exercise with her sister because it was still a form of training and she didn't want Vi to do it alone. Dangerous enough they were doing it alone. But they could handle it, Pet was sure!

xXx

The sloth bear was…Well, it was cute. It was hard to look at it and think it was vicious or really capable of mauling someone. A lot like Vi, actually. But Pet had researched this bear and it was possibly one of the most ruthless and violent bears, just below the sun bear in that respect. She wondered what that said about her little sister besides the obvious.

xXx

"What's that?" she asked, a few days before they were due back to school.

"A letter." Vi hummed, giving the fierce looking eagle owl that delivered the letter an owl treat. She had been keeping them on hand lately.

"Who is it from?" she asked next because that wasn't an owl she recognized. The eagle owl sent her a cold look before swooping off, Vi watched it leave idly before turning to the letter nonchalantly, opening it with the knife she had in hand.

"Regulus."

"Regulus? Who's Regulus?" she frowned. Surely she would have noticed if her sister were around someone else?

"He's a Slytherin."

"And what is he doing sending you letters?"

"I volunteered last year to do tutoring remember? He's going to be my pupil and I wanted to know what he needed help with in a bit more depth."

But that's right, Fifth Year they were allowed to volunteer to tutor for other students; it gave them extra credits. Pet had denied it, given that she knew she was going to be a Prefect and would have enough on her plate, not to mention all the more studies she would need to do this year in addition to all of her extracurricular classes. But she was determined she would do them all.

Well that and she wasn't the most patient of teachers.

But that was besides the point!

"Oh. Will you be doing that while I'm busy with Prefect things?"

"I tried to keep our schedule as close to that as I could." her sister assured her. "It'll be a busy year for everyone in our House." she sighed. Pet huffed, leaning against her sister for a moment before turning back to her potion.

xXx

"Did you get cuter?" Marlie asked bluntly of Vi when they visited on the train. "I don't know what it is, Vi, but I really wanna snog you right now."

"Don't." Pet warned the girl who only shrugged, blue eyes still intent on her little sister.

"It's the socks I think." Macy said thoughtfully. "And the uniform too, Vi never wore her uniform before." And Pet considered that. It was true; before she'd just wear her school robes closed.

"And she looks delicious. The socks are an especially nice touch." Marlie complimented the thigh-high white socks that matched her pristine button up school shirt, tucked into the skirt she wore high on her waist. She wore a blue bow in place of the usual tie. It was the same way Pet wore her uniform.

"I wear the same thing besides the socks." she pointed out.

"But there's something unusually appetizing about the way she wears it! Something…Erotic."

"It's because before all she wore was the loose school robes." Diane told them easily. "This change is pretty big by appearance. And Marlie has decided that girls are totally something she's into, as we all know by her _unnecessarily explicit letters that no one asked for_."

"So she can expect more responses like that?" Pet didn't even want to go into the letters she and her sister had gotten over the summer from the dark haired brunette on her exploits over the hols.

"Oh, I wanna be there when Morty sees it! You know how he fancies her!" Marlie sniggered in response to that and Pet rolled her eyes. "Actually, did Snape see it yet?"

"What are you bringing him up for?" Pet snapped, a wave of irritation flooding through and their three friends shared glances which she only scowled about. "He. Is. Lily's."

"Well maybe, but…"

"Well he does spend as much time with Vi as with her, if not more."

"Only because she's in the same House!"

"Alright but did he see her in it yet?"

"We came straight here after changing, before they got back to the compartment." Vi supplied helpfully. Pet sent her a look for that.

"So he hasn't. I want to be there for that too. Oh, if we're lucky we can show her off to Claus Vane!"

Pet paused, thinking about handsome, charming Claus Vane and she felt her cheeks heat up pleasantly. She saw the dazed look come over Macy's face and a little giggle from Diane. Vi perked up briefly, considering it.

"I do like eye-candy." she told their friends. And what eye-candy Claus Vane was! Glossy black curls, beauty mark by his eye, sparkling dark eyes and boyish face. And he played Beater, so his shoulders, his arms, his back were all powerful and distracting. And his arse was also quite pleasant to look at.

"You should try out this year too." Macy threw in and Pet looked at her incredulously. "What? She would be accepted in a heartbeat you know! Practically guarantee our wins with her, Vane and that sixth year."

"Randall Selwyn." Diane corrected. "How could you not remember his name?"

"She gets too distracted by his…Everything else." Marlie sniggered, words dripping in innuendo. Macy flushed but didn't give her an answer and cleared her throat pointedly.

"Point is, I think Vi would be a perfect choice for Seeker."

"Well yeah, but with everything else going on?"

"I think I will."

"What?"

"I like being Seeker." Vi shrugged. "I also tend to get really competitive about it and I'd love to knock Potter down a few pegs."

Torn, because Vi was already doing so much this year but she also really, _really_ wanted to see her trump Potter and knock him off his fucking pedestal, Pet bit her lip.

"I guess if you can handle it…"

"Of course, Pet." she smiled winningly. "Now don't you need to get going for the Prefect's meeting?"

"Oh! God, the time passes so quickly with you lot." Pet sighed before trotting off.

xXx

Pet was so totally unimpressed by the gawking going on that was aimed at her little sister during Ravenclaw Quidditch try-outs. Not that she could really blame them; she was still surprised her Animagus form wasn't a Granian, even though the chances of getting a magical being or beast as an Animagus form were slim to none-whatsoever. Lily's excessively tight grip on her arm wasn't helping her mood any either.

"She's going to crash!" her redheaded sister near-shrieked in her ear.

"For fuck's- she knows what she's doing!" she snapped at the other girl who looked as horrified as she had a minute ago at the sort of, kind of dangerous maneuvers their little sister was doing. But Vi was a miracle-worker on a broom so Pet felt only pride. On the redhead's other side, Snape looked green. Behind her, Marty and Morty were still cheering her on, Marlie even louder on her other side. Diane watched but mostly out of friendly obligation and Macy was busy staring longingly at where Claus Vane was down on the ground of the pitch watching with the rest of the Ravenclaw team. Or maybe she was looking at one of the other boys, Pet couldn't much tell.

Needless to say, Vi made it on the team.

xXx

Between her own Prefect duties and workload, and Vi's tutoring and Quidditch practice, Pet felt like they had barely seen eachother at all and now here her sister stood telling her that immediately after Christmas she'll be swept off to that Regulus boy's home?

"He needs the tutoring, Pet. If he doesn't bring his grades up, he's in danger of losing the potential Lordship of his family."

"I thought his grades were going well?" she demanded, baffled.

"Yes, but not well enough for his mother's tastes. Especially given that his brother was just blasted from the family and now all of the pressure is on him."

"I don't care about him or his family! I care about you apparently swanning off for hols!"

"Pet, please. I'll be reimbursed for my time spent there," she said in a low voice, reaching out to hold her hand. "Quite _generously."_

Pet struggled between thoughts. On one hand, this could be a useful investment; on the other, she wouldn't be seeing her sister for the majority of the holiday. Eventually, the long run advantage of putting this potential money into savings won out and she sighed in defeat.

"You'll owl me?"

"Of course I will."

"Have you told mum and da?"

"I did."

xXx

She worried for her sister when she had left. She was also incredibly aggravated because in Vi's absence Lily got the convoluted notion that she was lonely and started bugging her more. "So who is it she's tutoring again?"

"Some Slytherin, said his name was Regulus." she grunted, trying to ignore her sister. "I think he's a year under us."

"Regulus? Wait, as in Regulus Black? Sirius Black's little brother?"

She froze, dropping her fork to turn her unblinking gaze onto her sister. "…Excuse me?"

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

This chapter is definitely shorter I think?


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